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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26692747">Darkness on Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sierra_Sitruc/pseuds/Poppy%20Pelican'>Poppy Pelican (Sierra_Sitruc)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood &amp; Manga</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, F/M, Pining, Royai - Freeform, Smut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:40:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>38,844</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26692747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sierra_Sitruc/pseuds/Poppy%20Pelican</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Yes, we have two boys. Edward and Alphonse. Ed is eleven, Al is ten.” Hohenheim sighed like an exhausted but doting father. “They are a handful. Very talented alchemists for their age. And…fledgling vampires.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Vampire Mustang and his human assistant Hawkeye are dispatched to protect a vampire family. The simple assignment quickly becomes deadly when an old enemy reappears...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang, Trisha Elric/Van Hohenheim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>160</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welcome to my silly vampire AU that really got away from me. It's a bit indulgent, and it's mostly just for fun, but there is typical royai angst. Most of the characters have less tragic lives in this AU, despite all the vampires. The fic is basically finished, and I will post as each chapter is edited. I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Spring 1908</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the shadows grew longer and the sun sank behind a smear of red and orange, Riza fought back the dread growing in her chest. The night brought out the enemy. </p>
<p>The militia had camped for the day inside an old school building in an evacuated part of Central. The warning of a nest of vampires headed to the area had come barely in time. Families and businesses had emptied frantically with the help of the militia. Riza had only managed a small nap after being awake all night and then all day, but it had been nice to help civilians in person for once, even if all she did was help load cars and trucks.</p>
<p>She hoisted her rifle over her shoulder and climbed the ladder to the rooftop, staking out a place to watch over the streets below. The militia dispersed into the section of the city they had blockaded, using the last of the daylight to prepare before the vampires emerged—as they had been doing since the militia was formed to fight against the uprising of vampires two years ago.</p>
<p>While the uprising had seemed sudden to Riza, those at the top, like Fuhrer Bradley, knew the power grab had long been in motion. The military had been slowly infiltrated by a dangerous group of vampires and their sympathizers over the past decade.</p>
<p>They had not counted on humans to fight back so fiercely, refusing to be treated like cattle, or for the many compassionate vampires to join the humans in their fight for freedom. Riza joined the militia a year ago, right after her eighteenth birthday. She would’ve joined sooner if she could have. There was someone she needed to protect.</p>
<p>Riza hunkered down on the rooftop, ignoring the chill falling across the city as she positioned her rifle on the ledge of the roof. As a sniper, she had orders to incapacitate enemies as quickly and efficiently as possible. Through a scope, unless fangs were on display, there was no distinguishing between human and vampire, or humans who were willing or compelled. She was there to protect the militia from above, killing only when necessary. It was too often unavoidable. She tried not to dwell on the innocent lives she had likely taken. Or the ones she was responsible for via Roy Mustang’s flame alchemy.</p>
<p>As the sun finally set, it wasn’t long before she heard the cracks of gunshots and saw the glow of fire bursting in and out of existence. As long as she could see the bright flames, at least it meant Mustang was all right. She couldn’t afford to follow the flames with her eyes. They weakened her night vision, so she returned to her scope, scanning the perimeters. Waiting.</p>
<p>It had been dark for an hour when the screams and gunfire broke out in earnest, closer to her than they had been. Was the militia being pushed back? She would have to relocate if so, but she held her position, scanning the streets to find Alex Armstrong’s platoon fleeing toward the school. Armstrong took the rear, his big hulking frame easy to catch as he constructed a large barricade. It wouldn’t hold a vampire, but it would slow down humans.</p>
<p>“Hawkeye!” a voice hissed from across the roof. It sounded like Miles, one of the members from Briggs.</p>
<p>“Here,” she said, keeping her voice low, not removing her eye from the scope.</p>
<p>“I have new orders for you,” he whispered as he squatted down beside her. “Mustang’s platoon has been compromised.”</p>
<p>“How many of them?” And who? She wanted to ask.</p>
<p>“All of them,” Miles said grimly. “Compulsion. The platoon is protecting Mustang, but he’s killing anyone else in his path. The boss wants you to try and save as many as you can, but…do what needs to be done.”</p>
<p>“Understood,” she said. It wasn’t the first time members of the militia had fallen to compulsion.</p>
<p>She expected Miles to leave, but he pulled out his night vision goggles and knelt beside her.</p>
<p>“I have orders to stay with you,” he said, answering her unasked question.</p>
<p>Riza ground her teeth together. If they had ordered him to stay, it was because they were concerned she would disobey orders. Not that she would. If Mustang’s alchemy was in the hands of the enemy, humanity was lost.</p>
<p>Besides, she only trusted herself to shoot him without taking his life. The other snipers tended to kill more than injure.</p>
<p>“Those flames are hard to miss,” Miles said. “Do you have a clear shot?”</p>
<p>Riza focused her scope. There was Mustang, his face set in a neutral mask as he snapped, setting fire to an entire home. She prayed the family had listened to the evacuation orders.</p>
<p>In her crosshairs, she quickly hit his hand, wanting to destroy his glove. He didn’t flinch.</p>
<p>“Got him! Oh—oh no, he has another glove. And the platoon is moving tighter around him.”</p>
<p>“I’ll take care of it,” she said dully. She wanted to aim for his legs, but her vision was blocked there. She went for the opposite arm, determined to keep him alive. Again, he ignored the pain and relentlessly burned a small shop, fire and debris raining down into the street.</p>
<p>Her heart clenched as she aimed for comrades and friends, all of them locked in unnaturally calm stances, even though it was clear a sniper was picking them off. Maes Hughes, Mustang’s best friend, stood rigid and unmoving in front of the flame alchemist, ready to die.</p>
<p>Riza shot Hughes in the calf, briefly opening up her view of Mustang again. He snapped, temporarily blinding her vision as another home was engulfed in fire. He disappeared into an alley. He was closing in on the unit from Briggs. She felt Miles freeze beside her.</p>
<p>“He’ll take out the whole unit,” he whispered. “Hawkeye, you have to—as soon as you get him back in your sights—”</p>
<p>“I know.” Her eyes stung as she blinked away tears. She stood, running to the other side of the rooftop, knowing she would need a different viewpoint to catch him exiting the alley.</p>
<p>Her friends in the militia had all promised to kill each other should it come to this. Not letting herself think of the bright-eyed boy who dreamed of peace between humans and vampires, she waited for Mustang to reappear. Another inferno consumed a small shop, and a few moments later Mustang and the team around him crept out of the alley. There was a tiny gap, between the shoulders of the men covering him—</p>
<p>She aimed for the chest and pulled the trigger.</p>
<p>He dropped to the ground.</p>
<p>“Target down,” Miles said into his headset. “Armstrong can move in now.”</p>
<p>Riza’s hands fell limply to the stone ledge, then she lunged, vomiting over the side, down to the grass below. Her sobs of grief blended with the lurches of guilt that emptied her stomach. She could barely breathe through it all, and she didn’t care, didn’t want to breathe anymore.</p>
<p>“Hey, go take a break. Come back…as soon as you can,” Miles said. He held up his own rifle, signaling he would take over. He wasn’t a great sniper, but he was better than Riza at the moment. She gagged again, her stomach heaving up nothing but air and bile.</p>
<p>Riza looked down, pondering how high up she was, if it was far enough…</p>
<p>As if sensing her thoughts, Miles cleared his throat loudly. “He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”</p>
<p>But she did. It was undeniably her fault. Not only had she pulled the final trigger and executed the best man she knew, the man she cared about more than anyone, but she had given him her father’s flame alchemy in the first place. Time and time again, she had seen Mustang hunted by the enemy for his flames. Maybe this had been inevitable since the day she showed him her back when she was sixteen.</p>
<p>“Mustang knew the risks, just like we all do,” Miles continued. “While we try and work around compulsion, sometimes it can’t be done safely. You saved an entire unit. He would understand.”</p>
<p>She still couldn’t speak, but she did know. Mustang would have understood. He had taken up the responsibility of flame alchemy with determination, ready to die for humanity. But Riza should never have given him that responsibility—that curse.</p>
<p>Unable to form the words, she simply walked away. </p>
<p>Numbly, she made her way below into the school where the classrooms were being used to triage the injured and dead. She wanted to wait for Mustang’s body to be brought in, but first Hughes stumbled into the hallway, limping only slightly.</p>
<p>She avoided his gaze, unable to look him in the eye as guilt wracked her body.</p>
<p>“I killed him,” she whimpered, as Hughes enveloped her in a brotherly hug. A part of her wanted to wallow without comfort, but she couldn’t refuse.</p>
<p>“We were all out of control,” he said hoarsely. “He would’ve burned down the whole city. You did the right thing.”</p>
<p>“How can anything be right if he’s dead?” she asked, pulling away. “Is he still—is he still out there?”</p>
<p>“Armstrong and Curtis were still breaking the compulsions, so I think so.” There were only three ways to break a vampire’s compulsion: kill the master vampire, kill the human, or override the compulsion by drinking another vampire’s blood. Conveniently for Hughes, drinking a vampire’s blood also had potent healing properties.</p>
<p>“Had he…drank any blood recently?” she asked in a small voice. Dying with vampire blood in your system was the only known way to transform into one yourself.</p>
<p>“I’ve been asking myself that,” Hughes said, “But I don’t think he had anything worse than a paper cut with how much protection they kept him under.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know if he’d want to turn, but…”</p>
<p>“Better that than dead,” Hughes finished for her. He shared that same belief as Mustang. Riza struggled with it more, perhaps because of how her father had raised her. He’d created flame alchemy purely to kill vampires, and he had hated Mustang’s vampire sympathies.</p>
<p>Riza had listened in on their many arguments, never quite certain who she thought was right, falling somewhere in the middle. She didn’t want to be a vampire herself, but she held no grudges against the honest vampires of the world. Still, she wasn’t comfortable around them like Mustang. It was only natural, she thought. Would a fly be friends with a spider? But if she could see Mustang again, even as a vampire, she would gladly be caught in his web.</p>
<p>Hughes left to be examined by a doctor while Riza made her way out to the street. The rest of Mustang’s platoon was trudging in, most of them covered in blood either from drinking the blood of their ally vampires, or from their injuries. Riza couldn’t bring herself to apologize for shooting anyone. There was only one person she wanted to beg forgiveness from, and he was sprawled in a pool of his own blood in the street. </p>
<p>As it struck her that Mustang was all alone out there, murdered by someone he trusted to protect him, she walked briskly toward Armstrong’s crumbling barricade. It still smoldered from the fire, but it was under control. Most of the Briggs unit was working on extinguishing the buildings with the help of Izumi Curtis.</p>
<p>She coughed and continued forward, ignoring the smoke burning her eyes. No one questioned her presence as she trekked through the burnt detritus from Mustang’s rampage.</p>
<p>His body was exactly where she had seen it fall, not far from a broken lamppost next to the opening of an alley. She collapsed to her knees beside him, questioning what she had expected to find. Looking at his still form, she wondered if Hughes had been the one to close his eyes and position his hands across his chest. It did nothing to hide the blood soaking through his coat.</p>
<p>“I’ll stay with you,” she said, propping her rifle across her knees. She couldn’t bear to have him lying there alone, unprotected, and if someone accidentally killed her—she welcomed death.</p>
<p>Riza hadn’t been there long when, like the shadows of the grim reaper, she saw a wraith in the opening of the alley. Her gun was in her hands and ready to fire in the blink of an eye. She gasped when she saw a child smiling at her through the scope. Two shiny, smooth fangs gleamed in the reflection of the fiery glow around them. A vampire child. Her hands began to shake as she recognized the boy stepping from the darkness.</p>
<p>Selim Bradley. </p>
<p>“Don’t worry, sniper. I won’t hurt you. Your friend’s about to wake up—and he’ll need a drink,” Selim said. He laughed.</p>
<p>She froze in place. “Why would you turn him?” </p>
<p>“Most humans, once changed, see reason. Humans are merely nourishment to superior beings.”</p>
<p>Riza didn’t consider arguing that Mustang wouldn’t see it that way. The laughing monster would never change its ways. Regardless, Mustang had been the one with the silver tongue between them.</p>
<p>“Still set in your ways, I see,” a deep voice boomed from behind her. Riza knew this vampire. He was a very talented alchemist. The general must have called him in to deal with Mustang, just in case.</p>
<p>“Van Hohenheim. You’re still alive?” Selim asked derisively, but he took a step back into the alley.</p>
<p>“More or less,” Van said. “What do you want with Mustang?”</p>
<p>“You know better than anyone how I like to collect.”</p>
<p>“Oh yes, and that’s why I refuse to allow it. He’s not going anywhere with you.”</p>
<p>Riza crouched over Mustang, her will to fight thundering back to life as she held onto hope he would come back from where she had sent him.</p>
<p>Selim sniffed childishly. “I just wanted to watch the flame alchemist drain this girl, but if you are going to kick up a fuss—” In the blink of an eye both vampires were gone. Riza looked around the street. No one was within her line of sight, not even members of the militia.</p>
<p>She knew little about vampire transformations. They were finnicky. They only worked about half the time, and no one understood why. More troubling, new vampires could enter into something called blood rage, should they not feed quickly enough. They would tear into anything and anyone until they were destroyed.</p>
<p>A new vampire lost to blood rage had killed her mother.</p>
<p>Riza had been too young to understand at the time, but she could still remember the frightening suddenness of another woman tackling her mother to the ground while they had been taking a walk before bed. Her mother had looked peaceful and still as the mindless vampire ravaged her neck, but her words had not been.</p>
<p>“Run, Riza! Get your father!”</p>
<p>Riza had run as fast as her short legs allowed, but her father hadn’t been in time to save her mother. He’d put the vampire down, a merciful thing. Blood rage was incurable.</p>
<p>But if they drank blood promptly, they retained control of their thirst—or so she had heard. She should have asked Armstrong about it. He was very easygoing and open about his condition. His sister, on the other hand…</p>
<p>Riza examined Mustang with a critical eye. His ignition glove was still wet with blood.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” she said, taking the liberty of removing the glove. She knew her bullet had pierced through it, but the wound was gone. His skin had healed. Her grief morphed to an uneasy hope.</p>
<p>She squeezed his hand and released it, placing her own back on her gun. Then she waited for him to wake, debating with herself if she should try and track down Armstrong for guidance, but she was more afraid of leaving Mustang alone than being killed by him.</p>
<p>If he killed her, it would only be what she deserved.</p>
<p>It was with that passing thought that Mustang turned into a blur of movement. Before she could speak, he was suddenly on top of her, new fangs bared with menace. Her head exploded with belated pain as she realized he had cracked her head against the pavement with his newfound vampire strength.</p>
<p>“Hawkeye?” he asked, rearing back in confusion.</p>
<p>“Yes,” she said. Hot tears dripped into her hairline. She could not find it in her to fear him, not when she was so relieved to hear his voice again. “I’m sorry,” she croaked. “You were compelled. I had to stop you.”</p>
<p>“You smell—really good,” he said, covering his nose and mouth in horror. “Oh god.”</p>
<p>“Better than dead,” she said. “You need to feed—quickly.”</p>
<p>Or the blood rage would come. She couldn’t allow that to happen.</p>
<p>“From you?” he asked. He sounded reluctant even as he eyed her neck hungrily.</p>
<p>“It’s the least I can do.” She tilted up her chin, allowing him access.</p>
<p>“Ah, this is a little weird.” She was confused until he pulled her up onto her knees, freeing her from being pinned underneath him, and she realized he’d been referring to their position. “That’s better.”</p>
<p>Then all reluctance vanished, and he grabbed her close, his grip a little too tight as his teeth plunged into her neck. She winced at the initial pain, and then it very quickly went numb. Her body slackened, so much so that she had to lean against Mustang for support. His euphoric moan against her neck gave her goosebumps, a feverish thrill coursing through her as he sucked eagerly. </p>
<p>She gasped as his gloveless hand brushed against her neck, much gentler now, but it was far more erotic and pleasant than it should have been. She’d always been overcome with disgust at the thought of having a vampire feed from her. Her mother had died this way.</p>
<p>She clutched at his blood-dampened coat, drunkenly wanting to touch and feel to know he was alive. Each expansion of his chest, the tickle of his fingers caressing her neck under her collar, the warmth of his lips against her skin, all of it provided proof he still lived.</p>
<p>Dimly, she became aware that she should probably stop him. A wave of dizziness came over her, and still she could only manage breathy, obedient noises. The words to tell him to stop were trapped behind the haze.</p>
<p>“Whoa there, kids, break it up,” Hohenheim’s gruff voice said. “Mustang, your girl smells anemic already.”</p>
<p>Mustang let go with a disappointed growl, but Hohenheim offered his wrist with a friendly smile.</p>
<p>“So humiliating,” Mustang sighed, but he clamped down on Hohenheim’s wrist without any other complaint.</p>
<p>“Vampire blood works just as well and is easier to replenish,” he said conversationally.</p>
<p>“Is the wrist any easier than the neck?” Riza asked, touching Mustang’s bite mark. A wet trickle of blood remained, but she thought it was already clotting well enough.</p>
<p>Hohenheim shrugged. “The wrist is simply less personal. Like a handshake instead of a hug. Do you want to tap in?” he asked her with a forced grin, gesturing to his other wrist. “You look pale.”</p>
<p>She shook her head. Her father would roll in his grave if she ever willingly drank vampire blood.</p>
<p>“Did you catch up to Selim?” she asked instead.</p>
<p>Mustang straightened up in alarm. “That abomination was here?”</p>
<p>“You saw him, too?” Riza asked.</p>
<p>“He’s the one who—did this to me,” he said, gesturing to his fangs. “And compelled me to…” He looked around then, staring at the smoldering damage of buildings all around them. He looked lost.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry for that,” Hohenheim said. “He is my sire as well, unfortunately. He likes to turn alchemists—though he is a terrible alchemist himself. He wants to have them as allies.”</p>
<p>“Why does he keep the form of a child?” Mustang asked, shuddering. “I thought vampires could will themselves to age.”</p>
<p>Riza’s empty stomach churned.</p>
<p>“He has never explained that to me,” Hohenheim said thoughtfully. “I wish I could have kept tailing him, but I was afraid my new brother here would eat his lover for a midnight snack if I didn’t return.”</p>
<p>“We’re not lovers,” Riza and Mustang said in unison.</p>
<p>Hohenheim laughed. “Well, forgive the assumption. I’ve become something of a romantic since I married.”</p>
<p>“We’re just old friends,” Mustang clarified.</p>
<p>“Speaking of friends, Hughes will want to know you’re…not dead,” she finished uncertainly. </p>
<p>Mustang stood, so quickly he seemed to surprise himself. “He’s all right then? What about the rest of my platoon?”</p>
<p>“All survived. Armstrong stepped in once—” Once she had killed Mustang and the threat had dwindled.</p>
<p>Mustang grimaced. “Right, it’s all coming back to me now. I kind of wish that part of my memory hadn’t been revived with the rest of me.”</p>
<p>“The others in your group didn’t mention anything about Selim,” Hohenheim said. “It sounded like one of his lackeys must have taken care of them.”</p>
<p>Riza searched the smoke-filled streets, goosebumps crawling down her spine as she imagined the unknown vampires lurking around. She hadn’t even known Selim was a vampire. His supposed father was human, but perhaps he had compelled Fuhrer Bradley so deeply that he had been able to immerse himself into the first family’s household.</p>
<p>Mustang turned to her. “You hit right in the center of my hand. What an insane shot,” he said, holding up his hand in wonder, no accusation in his voice. “And then you shot me twice more?” </p>
<p>“You were relentless, sir,” she said, remorseful. Once they had a moment alone, she would apologize properly.</p>
<p>“Yes, indeed. You are a much better ally than an enemy, Flame Alchemist,” Hohenheim said, putting his arm around Mustang’s shoulder. “Let’s get you back to camp.”</p>
<p>Riza followed behind them, her gun at the ready. It was much harder to kill a vampire than a human, but she had no intention of losing Mustang again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two Years Later</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chris Mustang should have known raising a boy around an establishment like hers would come back to bite her in the ass. When her nephew was tragically turned into a vampire, she had expected him to sulk and pout about it. But no, Roy relished his new night life, as he called it. Currently he was tasting his third woman of the night, always out in the open for anyone to see. Chris had asked him to take it back to a private room—many times—but he claimed it was good for business. He dropped by once a week for his meals unless work kept him away. It was always the same. He never took one of her girls to a private room, always drank from their wrists, and was never exclusive with a particular woman like her many other vampire customers. </p>
<p>The only steady woman in his life was his dedicated assistant, Riza Hawkeye. Chris checked her watch. It was past five in the morning. The stoic assistant would be arriving soon to remind Roy to leave before sunrise. He hadn’t explained why he returned from the militia with his alchemist teacher’s daughter as his shadow. When Chris had poked around for information from others, the truth of it had been enough for her to refrain from searching for anymore answers on the subject.</p>
<p>Vanessa, whose wrist Roy was tasting, giggled as he licked the wound shut with an exaggerated waggle of his eyebrows. She blew him a kiss and sashayed over to a vampire couple who wanted a quick bite to share before dinner. Vanessa was best suited for that kind of meal, seeing as she was a vampire herself.</p>
<p>Roy slunk over to the bar, his gaze flicking revealingly to the door where he expected his assistant to appear.</p>
<p>“I’m going to be unreachable for at least a week,” he said. “An old friend asked me to come for a visit. Elizabeth will be accompanying me.”</p>
<p>“Oh?” Chris asked. The two of them were part of an elite, off-the-books team for the new fuhrer. They were slowly hunting down the last of the previous regime’s supporters—the ones who wanted humans to submit and produce blood like livestock. But since Roy mentioned Hawkeye’s codename, that meant this assignment was not from Grumman. A more personal assignment, then?</p>
<p>“Enjoy your visit,” she said.</p>
<p>Roy checked the door again, not even attempting to hide it. </p>
<p>“She’s late, huh?” Chris asked. “That’s not like her.”</p>
<p>“She was running an errand for me. I’m going to be annoyed if she doesn’t get here before sunrise.”</p>
<p>Chris held back a smirk at his barely concealed worry. “Are you going to need a room?” she asked.</p>
<p>The question went unanswered as Hawkeye finally walked in the door, folding a dripping umbrella.</p>
<p>“Did you get held up?” Roy asked.</p>
<p>“Hi Chris, could I get a quick coffee?” Hawkeye asked, ignoring the question.</p>
<p>“Sure thing.”</p>
<p>As she listened to the pair’s hushed conversation, she saw she already had a pot of coffee ready. She didn’t recall making it, so it must have been one of the girls.</p>
<p>“It took longer than expected, but I got what you needed,” Hawkeye said. “We can talk more about it tomorrow night.”</p>
<p>“You’re going to make me wait all day?”</p>
<p>Chris put the mug down in front of Hawkeye, who thanked her quietly.</p>
<p>“You should get home, sir. Not only is it raining, but the sunrise is soon.”</p>
<p>“Rain,” he grumbled.</p>
<p>“I have an extra umbrella in my bag,” she said. She tossed it at him. “I’m going to drink this and then I have a few more errands to run.”</p>
<p>He gave a petulant sigh, but waved goodbye and was out the door. After the rest of the vampire customers had either left or taken one of Chris’s safe rooms, Chris returned to Hawkeye, pouring herself a glass of white wine.</p>
<p>“How did your meeting tonight really go?” Chris asked.</p>
<p>Hawkeye clutched the mug closer to her.</p>
<p>“It went fine.”</p>
<p>“It seemed like you were shooing my boy away,” Chris said. “Have something to hide?”</p>
<p>“I just didn’t want him to burn any bridges because of me. Our contact can be difficult, but he always has the best information.”</p>
<p>“So…there’s a reason to burn bridges?” Chris inferred.</p>
<p>“Not on my account,” Hawkeye said. “Next time I will just make sure to bring your nephew along. I don’t like surprise vampire meetings. It was supposed to be just myself and the contact.”</p>
<p>And there was the info Roy would take issue with. He never wanted her to deal with vampires on her own—and with good reason.</p>
<p>“You don’t look compelled now, but…” Chris looked Hawkeye over. Her skin was paler than usual, her eyes red and tired. If nothing else, the blood would give her a small energy boost. “I have some vampire blood on hand if you need.” As her bar grew into a neutral ground for vampires to meet, she had long ago started keeping the stuff on hand. </p>
<p>“I probably should. To be safe. Though I can’t see why they would have bothered,” Hawkeye said. “Aside from trying to intimidate me with the vampire they brought along, it was a simple exchange. Though… I may have threatened to blow his head off,” she said with a half-smile. Hawkeye’s reflexes were legendary. Few humans could hit a vampire target so unerringly.</p>
<p>Chris gave a throaty chuckle. “That’s one way to take care of things.”</p>
<p>She pulled out a lockbox she kept under the bar for special customers. Compulsion was a tricky thing. During active compulsion, it was easy to notice, particularly if it was someone you knew well, but if the vampire compelled you to forget, that was a different matter.</p>
<p>She opened the box, glancing at the tiny bottles of blood. “I don’t have Roy’s on hand, if you’d prefer his, I keep it upstairs.”</p>
<p>“No, that won’t be necessary.”</p>
<p>“How about this one,” Chris said, holding up a labeled bottle for Hawkeye to take.</p>
<p>“Maes Hughes?” Hawkeye asked curiously. Hughes was a good man—and a lucky one. It wasn’t six months after Roy transitioned into a vampire that Hughes followed him into the nightlife, although with far less enthusiasm than Roy. Hughes’s spirits rose once his girlfriend assured him she wouldn’t leave him over some fangs and a change in diet.</p>
<p>Hawkeye thought it over for a minute before grimacing and adding a few drops to her coffee.</p>
<p>“He’s a frequent donor. He likes to help out,” Chris explained, watching as Hawkeye took a sip.</p>
<p>“No compulsion,” Hawkeye confirmed. “And I’m pretty sure this coffee is made of tar because I can’t even tell there’s blood in it,” she said with a wink.</p>
<p>Hawkeye finished her coffee, leaving just as the first rays of light began to peek across the rooftops. The rain had stopped, and she left her umbrella behind with a subdued wave before she went out the door.</p>
<p>Chris ambled over to the umbrella, picking it up. Inside she found a note wrapped around the handle, “Mustang’s sire is back in Central. Be careful.”</p>
<p>Chris crumpled the note, feeling deeply unsettled. She knew how desperately Roy and Hawkeye wanted to put an end to deceptively young Selim Bradley’s life, and yet they were leaving town. It gave her a bad feeling, but she could only trust the pair would take care of each other and return safely.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why the hell did Hohenheim ask us all the way out here?” Roy asked, looking around the small village of Resembool with skepticism. They had arrived on the sleeper train, and sunrise would be soon. Roy was uncomfortably aware of the lack of safe houses in the country compared to Central. “Pretty sure the people are outnumbered a thousand to one by sheep.”</p>
<p>“Let’s get going. Hohenheim said he’d meet us near the general store,” Hawkeye said, marching ahead without waiting for a response.</p>
<p>Roy let her gain some distance as he did one more scan of the area. While Hawkeye held her own, she was only human and therefore much slower. Usually they would drive together, but it seemed the invention of the car had yet to trickle its way to the rural areas of Amestris. Instead there was enough quiet that Roy could hear Hawkeye’s delicious heartbeat thumping along even a hundred feet away.</p>
<p>He caught up to Hawkeye with ease, even though he carried both their bags. Hohenheim had been incredibly vague and unforthcoming about how long they would be needed or why, so Hawkeye had insisted they pack enough to get by for at least two weeks.<br/>Hohenheim appeared at the end of the road, his unusual golden eyes almost glowing in the moonlight.</p>
<p>“Welcome, little brother,” Hohenheim greeted. He refused to stop calling him that no matter how often Roy reminded him he hated it. Exactly like an older brother, Roy supposed. “And the lovely Miss Hawkeye. I’m glad you’re here. My wife is excited to meet you.”</p>
<p>“Your wife?” Hawkeye asked, her curiosity leaking out.</p>
<p>“The mysterious Mrs. Hohenheim?” Roy asked.</p>
<p>Hohenheim chuckled lowly. “Yes, although she kept her maiden name, Elric. Resembool is her hometown, actually. She wanted to raise the children here.”</p>
<p>“Children?” Roy asked, his surprise mounting. “As in—your children?” Although Hohenheim had taken Roy under his wing after his untimely death, he had never mentioned children, not even his wife’s name. He was exceptionally private.</p>
<p>“Yes, we have two boys. Edward and Alphonse. Ed is eleven, Al is ten.” Hohenheim sighed like an exhausted but doting father. “They are a handful. Very talented alchemists for their age. And…fledgling vampires.”</p>
<p>“That is not what I was expecting,” Hawkeye said bluntly.</p>
<p>Roy shook his head, hoping to clear it. “Something tells me our sire knows about them.”</p>
<p>“I’ve no idea how he heard about them, but he sent a…letter” Probably not a good letter. “Usually I can talk him out of his delusions, which is why I’d like to deal with him promptly. Did you find out his location?”</p>
<p>“He’s in Central,” Roy said, looking at Hawkeye intently. She had been very close-lipped about her meeting with Raven other than the basic facts she had gleaned from him. “He’s been spotted at his usual haunts there.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Hohenheim started walking at a brisk vampire pace. “I’ll take you to my house. Sunrise isn’t far off.” Then he quickly retraced his steps, turning sheepishly to Hawkeye.</p>
<p>“Just give me the directions and I’ll find my own way there,” she said, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. She hated when her humanness was a burden. </p>
<p>“All right. The boys can let you in. They are still very tolerant of the sun.”</p>
<p>Roy was intrigued. He had heard of vampire children, but they were rare and—like these boys—kept hidden until maturity. No wonder Hohenheim settled in such an isolated town.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Riza would have considered staying in town and renting a wagon if she’d known most of her walk would be uphill. Sunrise had come and gone, and the August sun was stretching across the rolling hills. She shed her light jacket, carrying it over her arm the rest of the journey.</p>
<p>She was almost there when she finally came across other humans. An adorable family with a young daughter.</p>
<p>“Are you looking for the automail shop?” the mom asked, crinkling her eyes in a friendly smile. Perhaps she thought Riza’s arm hidden beneath her jacket was automail.</p>
<p>“No, just visiting some friends,” Riza replied, hoping she didn’t come off too rude. She wasn’t sure she should let anyone know who she was visiting.</p>
<p>“Well, we are the doctors in town,” the man said, introducing them as the Rockbells. “If you need anything, stop by the clinic.”</p>
<p>Riza thanked them and continued up the hill. As she spotted a house that fit with Hohenheim’s directions, she spied two boys tussling in the shade of a large tree. They had the same coloring as Hohenheim.</p>
<p>She studied the boys. They looked so human, but there was something different about their movements. Faster, stronger, like a vampire. Any concern about their control around a frail human fled the moment they spotted her and reverted to human speeds, coming over to greet her politely.</p>
<p>“You Uncle Roy’s friend?” the smaller one asked. She stifled a laugh at him referring to Roy as uncle. Probably more of Hohenheim’s teasing.</p>
<p>“Yes, Riza Hawkeye. Are you Edward and Alphonse?”</p>
<p>“I’m Ed. This is Al,” the taller one said, sticking a thumb toward his brother.</p>
<p>“Nice to meet you. You can call me Riza if you’d like.” </p>
<p>“Do you want to see our treehouse?” Ed asked abruptly, gesturing up above in the branches, where there was in fact a small wooden fort with a tire swing underneath. “It’s so fun during the day, but Mom never lets us play in it unless there’s an adult around.” </p>
<p>He grinned charmingly. Riza was being played.</p>
<p>“It’s already past bedtime,” Al said dutifully, but his pretty golden eyes also lingered on the treehouse.</p>
<p>“How about a quick look,” she said. “I’ve never been in a treehouse before.”</p>
<p>The boys cheered and clambered up the rudimentary ladder. Riza followed, feeling awkwardly tall as she hoisted herself up into the cozy wooden house.</p>
<p>“What’s this?” she asked, holding up a girl’s doll she almost sat on. It reminded her of one she had as a girl. </p>
<p>“Oh, that’s just Winry’s. She uses this during the day when we can’t come out. We’re only allowed to play with her in the evenings,” Ed said matter-of-factly. </p>
<p>“Winry Rockbell? I think I met her on the way here.” She doubted there were two girls with such an unusual name.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s her!” Al said excitedly.</p>
<p>The boys showed her around the treehouse like it was a grand house, rather than a small structure Riza couldn’t stand up fully in. The most interesting thing was the obvious remnants of alchemy. It looked advanced, from what she knew, and when she asked them about it, she wished she hadn’t. Alchemists were all the same. They would’ve talked her ear off if Al hadn’t started yawning, reminding her that vampire children slept during the day. </p>
<p>Inspecting the Elric home from the outside, Riza was unsurprised to find all the windows had locked shutters, and as the boys opened the door, they were very careful to only crack it as much as necessary to open it. Riza followed them in, most interested in finding a glass of water before getting to work.</p>
<p>Hohenheim popped his head out a door.</p>
<p>“Did they show you the treehouse?” he asked.</p>
<p>“It was a very nice treehouse,” Riza said, not wanting to get the boys in trouble. “And I’d never been in one. I just had to take a peek.”</p>
<p>A woman with chestnut brown hair and twinkling green eyes appeared beside him.</p>
<p>“Hello, you must be Miss Hawkeye. I hope the boys weren’t keeping you out too late.”</p>
<p>She introduced herself as Trisha Elric before ordering Hohenheim to get some refreshments while she corralled the boys into their bedroom.</p>
<p>Mustang was in the pristine kitchen drinking a glass of wine, looking comfortable at the kitchen table.</p>
<p>“We’ll wait for the boys to go to sleep and then fill you in,” Hohenheim said, offering her a glass of water and a plate of cheese and crackers.</p>
<p>By the time Riza had eaten and freshened up in the bathroom, Trisha had joined them at the table.</p>
<p>“The boys are asleep. They—they know a little about Van’s sire, but we don’t want to frighten them,” Trisha said, grasping her husband’s hand.</p>
<p>“While I don’t anticipate any real danger to the boys or Trisha, I would feel better if another vampire alchemist was with them while I was gone. And I requested Hawkeye because we need someone who can go into the daylight like our sons, just in case.” Hohenheim said.</p>
<p>Riza wondered what had been in the letter he mentioned earlier, and why it had made him bring outsiders into his family home after all this time. Not just any outsiders, the Flame Alchemist and the Hawk’s Eye. Riza was sure he had others he could trust equally, and while she was touched by his trust in them, she knew they had been chosen for their considerable skills. Even though Hohenheim didn’t expect danger, if there was any, it sounded like he wanted to be prepared for it to turn deadly.</p>
<p>After discussing Hohenheim’s plans, Trisha showed Riza and Mustang around the house while Hohenheim went to make some last preparations.</p>
<p>“You’re welcome to anything in the kitchen,” Trisha said. She tilted her head, glancing between Riza and Mustang before she asked, “Will you be needing blood, Roy?”</p>
<p>“I knew I’d be roughing it, so I overindulged last night,” he replied. It should hold him over, as long as he didn’t exert himself excessively. Riza could guess what Trisha was wondering, but Riza hadn’t given Mustang blood since the first time. She had an agreement with Mustang that she was a delicacy only to be used in emergencies. It had been…too much, the one and only time he’d been at her vein.</p>
<p>“I apologize that all we have is animal blood. I drink it whenever Van is gone,” Trisha said. </p>
<p>Human blood was limited in small villages like Resembool. Riza didn’t have to look at him to know Mustang was mentally groaning. Human blood was not only more nutritious, it tasted better. While Trisha and Mustang could give one another blood, vampires were tetchy about sharing with those in committed relationships.</p>
<p>“Do your sons drink much blood?” Riza asked.</p>
<p>“No, we occasionally add our own to their drinks, but they don’t need much. And Van and I do very well drinking from each other.” Trisha’s cheeks turned rosy. Oh.</p>
<p>They moved onto the sleeping arrangements. “Van said you two have known each other a long time and wouldn’t mind sharing a room,” she said. Trisha looked amused. “But he can be a busybody. So do you mind sharing the study? Otherwise we can put one of you up in the living room.”</p>
<p>Riza looked at Mustang, who only raised an eyebrow as if to say it was her decision. She’d either look like a prude or like she was sleeping with her boss.</p>
<p>“We can share,” she said. “I’d take the couch, but I don’t want to be in the way.” A compromise, she hoped. She really didn’t want to be a bother.</p>
<p>“I promise not to bite,” Mustang said teasingly. </p>
<p>Riza bestowed him with her most unimpressed look while Trisha laughed.</p>
<p>After Trisha left them to get settled for bed—because it was already almost noon and they had been up all night—Mustang couldn’t resist heckling her.</p>
<p>“You know, I wouldn’t be offended if you didn’t want to share,” he said quietly, an attempt for them to not be overheard by the family in their rooms. “I could even take the couch.”</p>
<p>“It’s not like I’ll be sleeping much,” she said, realizing too late how that sounded, so she spoke quickly. “I’ll try and keep watch during the day. You can be on duty at night. It’s just a matter of adjusting my sleep schedule.”</p>
<p>“You planning to stay up all day?” he asked, sorting through his luggage. “You’re no good to me half asleep.”</p>
<p>“No, not today. I’ll go to bed earlier tomorrow. Could you wake me if I sleep past sunset?”</p>
<p>“Sure,” he said. “Are you going to wear that godawful thing you wore to bed when we stayed in Dublith?”</p>
<p>Riza scowled. The last time they had to share a room, he’d mercilessly teased her about her nightgown. It was a shapeless, high necked, long-sleeved gown that went down to just below her knees. But it was insanely comfortable, and she didn’t care what Mustang said.</p>
<p>“This one is short sleeved for summer,” she said innocently.</p>
<p>“That’s not better. How old are you, anyway? Eighty?”</p>
<p>He knew very well she was twenty-one.</p>
<p>“I brought an extra one in case you need something to sleep in,” she offered, infusing such sugary sweetness that he wrinkled his nose.</p>
<p>“I should burn it. It’s hideous.”</p>
<p>“It’s just for sleeping in,” she said.</p>
<p>“It makes you look like a stuffy virgin.”</p>
<p>Riza laughed, pulling out her hairbrush.</p>
<p>“I am a stuffy virgin,” she said. “So it’s doing its job.”</p>
<p>She thought nothing of the comment for a brief moment before she realized her blaring mistake. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, the constant presence of Mustang since they boarded the train, or the fact that she was still a little in shock over learning Hohenheim had two vampire children, but she had let herself become too comfortable with Mustang. Flirtatious.</p>
<p>Mustang was even more surprised.</p>
<p>“That’s impossible! How did I not know this?” He promptly cleared his throat. “Not that I should know. But…you’ve had several boyfriends.”</p>
<p>She tilted her head, her smile falling.</p>
<p>“I’d rather not show off my body, especially my back, to someone I’m not serious about.” She could never date an alchemist, or anyone untrustworthy who could decipher her tattoo. It limited her prospects, but not as much as the odd hours of her job with Mustang did.</p>
<p>“And now I feel like an ass. I’m going to bed before I put my foot in my mouth again.”</p>
<p>“Probably best for both of us, sir,” she said, disappearing to the bathroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hohenheim left as soon as it was dark, and Roy went up to make sure Hawkeye was awake. He paused outside the door, listening to her heart beating in the languid rhythm of sleep.</p>
<p>He knocked loudly on the door, grinning as her heart jumped awake. Then, because he was a foolish man, he opened the door to make certain she was awake. She stood in a hurry, hair tousled, eyes bleary.</p>
<p>And there was the ridiculous nightgown. This one had touches of feminine ruffles at the shoulders, and looked silky and soft. It was perfectly innocent.</p>
<p>This one, just like the one she’d worn in Dublith, seemed conjured from hell to torture him. He expected Hawkeye to wear something like all the female soldiers of the militia had. They’d been boyish and simple. Bland.</p>
<p>He rarely let himself think of her as anything more than a friend. That stupid nightgown had derailed all professional thoughts. He was itching to hike it up to her hips, revealing more skin inch by inch until—</p>
<p>“Did you need something?” she asked, turning to grab her bag.</p>
<p>“Um, breakfast is being served,” he replied, backing out of the doorway before he said or did anything else moronic. </p>
<p>Downstairs, Roy helped Trisha in the kitchen while they waited for the rest of the household to appear.</p>
<p>“Can you show us some flame alchemy?” A young voice asked from behind him, when breakfast was nearly finished. “Dad says you can set a whole building on fire.”</p>
<p>Roy turned and found the two brothers dressed and bright-eyed. They had the look alchemists get when knowledge is in front of them. Unfortunately, flame alchemy was something he could never teach them. He’d made a promise to Hawkeye.</p>
<p>“I suppose I could give you a quick demonstration if your mom doesn’t mind.”</p>
<p>Trisha laughed. “Sure. I’d like to see it, too.” She leaned back on the counter, watching expectantly.</p>
<p>Roy pulled out his gloves.</p>
<p>“Why do you have the transmutation circles on them?” Ed asked, curious.</p>
<p>Another benefit of becoming a vampire had been losing the need for drawing circles when transmuting.</p>
<p>“They are the original ones from—before,” he explained. “I still need the gloves for the spark, so I’ve kept using them.” Maybe one day when they needed replaced, he would just make them plain white. Then he looked at the boys watching in giddy anticipation. </p>
<p>“Do you two need to draw them out?”</p>
<p>“We still need circles sometimes, but the older we get the less we need them,” Al said.</p>
<p>“I can do without one most of the time now,” Ed bragged.</p>
<p>“But you burn in the sun twice as fast as me,” Al pointed out, sticking out his tongue.</p>
<p>“Perhaps time for the demonstration,” Roy said, then with a snap he created a small flame in his hands, shaping it like a sunflower.</p>
<p>The Elrics ooed and ahhed as Roy did a few fanciful tricks, happy to use his alchemy for something good. He was also honest enough to admit to himself he loved to show off.</p>
<p>Hawkeye appeared and Roy extinguished the flames immediately. She had never outwardly said so, but he suspected she inherited her father’s dislike of showoffs. </p>
<p>“Time for breakfast,” Trisha said.</p>
<p>“Too bad Dad said we can’t ask him to teach us any flame alchemy,” he heard Ed mutter to his younger brother.</p>
<p>Roy would have to remember to thank Hohenheim for that later.</p>
<p>As they ate breakfast, the boys made a grand case for running to see their friend Winry before she had to go to bed. On this, Roy allowed Trisha to decide, and she practically pushed Roy and Hawkeye out the door with her children. He got a strong feeling she wanted time to herself.</p>
<p>“So you haven’t been able to go out much lately?” Hawkeye asked the boys, full of sympathy as they cut through a grassy field.</p>
<p>“Not during the day,” Al said forlornly.</p>
<p>“But Mom said we could invite Winry over to the treehouse either this afternoon or in the morning— since Riza’s here.” Ed looked hopefully at Hawkeye. </p>
<p>“That’s up to Mustang,” she said.</p>
<p>“That should be fine,” Roy agreed easily. The boys cheered and began plotting all the games they would play. Kids should be kids, Roy thought, and the treehouse was right in the front yard.</p>
<p>The Rockbell home was busy winding down for the night when they arrived, but they welcomed the boys and their escorts in with kindness.</p>
<p>Yuriy and Sarah Rockbell asked after Trisha.</p>
<p>“She stayed home to relax,” Hawkeye explained, doting on the family dog. Typical Hawkeye. If there was a dog, she could not resist making friends with it.</p>
<p>“I don’t blame her,” Yuriy confided. “Those boys probably talk even in their sleep. Winry is the same.”</p>
<p>“It’s good she has friends her age nearby,” Hawkeye said. “It’s a talkative age.” Her comment brought Roy back to little Riza Hawkeye growing up a little neglected and lonely in her father’s house. He’d once found her telling her dog about her day at school. After that, Roy made an effort to ask about her studies, and even then it had been like pulling teeth to get her to speak to him. Maybe what she’d needed was friends her own age, not an awkward teenage boy.</p>
<p>Granny Pinako shoved a bunch of sweets at them all, drawing Roy from his memories, and Winry brought some of her automail prototypes to show her friends. Now Roy understood why they were friends with the girl—she was as clever as they were.</p>
<p>“How am I supposed to know if it’s any good?” Ed asked her.</p>
<p>“Can’t you feel how light it is? But it’s still very durable!” she told him crossly.</p>
<p>“I think you should let me transmute some skulls on it. Make it look cooler,” Ed suggested, and their arguing turned into some kind of game of chase around the house with Al and even the dog joining in. It gave the adults a chance to talk.</p>
<p>“Of course we know you by reputation, Flame Alchemist,” Sarah said, once they got past the watered down version for why Roy and Hawkeye were bodyguards to two pre-pubescent boys.</p>
<p>“We were volunteers for the militia ourselves,” Yuriy said. “We appreciate everything you did for our country.”</p>
<p>Roy heard the genuine feeling in his words, but it left a bitter, crawling sensation behind. His mind went to that night, his body operating without his control, burning everything—and everyone—in sight. Hawkeye had rightfully put him down like the monster he was, though he wished the responsibility had fallen to someone else.</p>
<p>“Not to bring up troubling memories,” Yuriy added. “We just wanted to thank you.”</p>
<p>“We owe you just as much thanks,” Hawkeye said, recovering quicker than Roy. “There were more injuries than a bit of vampire blood could fix.” And many of the vampires tired of the chore, although Roy had never minded. He had always wanted to help others, and now in his veins he carried a gift to heal injuries more easily than alchemy.</p>
<p>“It was the least we could do. We know the good that vampires can do. Hohenheim saved my mother’s life,” Yuriy said, nodding at Pinako. “And this was fifty years ago,” he grinned, lightening the mood.</p>
<p>“How old is Hohenheim anyway?” Hawkeye asked.</p>
<p>“Old as dirt,” Ed yelled from across the room, laughing at his own joke.</p>
<p>Later, with promises to send Winry over in the morning, they left with two very hyperactive kids. It was in this excitement they showed their supernatural traits most. The boys played a game of leapfrog that was more like two leaping leopards. The boys never would have stayed under the radar in a busy city, but the country fields were vacant except a few bleating sheep.</p>
<p>“You can run ahead with the boys if you want,” Hawkeye said. “I can tell they are dying to run home faster than my human pace.”</p>
<p>“They probably walk slowly for the Rockbell girl all the time,” Roy said.</p>
<p>“Actually, we carry her,” Ed said. He skidded to a stop in front of Roy, uprooting clumps of grass in the process. “She’s not heavy and she likes to go fast.”</p>
<p>“Why don’t you give Riza a ride?” Al chimed in, joining them. “I bet you could jump over the sleeping sheep faster than we can!” Then he promptly looked panicked as Ed elbowed him. “Please don’t tell our mom about sheep jumping.”</p>
<p>“Sheep jumping?” Roy grinned wickedly. He thought of little Riza Hawkeye who hadn’t known how to enjoy herself. It was never too late, was it? “Come on, Hawkeye. Brace yourself.” He tossed her over his shoulder before she could protest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Did you like sheep jumping?” Al asked Riza eagerly as they came to the last bend before their house. Riza’s feet were happily on the ground again.</p>
<p>“I think it would’ve been more fun if I hadn’t been upside down,” she said, glaring at Mustang who pretended to fix his hair—which was no messier than usual.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we carry Winry piggyback,” Al agreed.</p>
<p>“It’s best to always ask before throwing a woman over your shoulder,” Mustang said. “Next time I will ask. Probably.”</p>
<p>“To be fair, it was fun,” Riza said. And if she’d wanted him to put her down, she would have made him do it. There was something to running fast, though she could have done with less jostling. </p>
<p>Trisha welcomed them back, and everyone scattered. Riza went to familiarize herself with the property while Roy did the same at vampire speed. Riza would have to do another circuit in the daylight to cover her bases.</p>
<p>Beginning her struggle to change her internal clock, Riza went to bed hours before sunrise, long before the vampires in the household. In Central, this was usually when she woke up for the day, but after pulling a couple of late nights, she fell into a heavy sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Mustang woke Riza, at first, she thought it was for her turn to take watch, but his posture was too urgent.</p>
<p>“Someone’s outside,” he said. “Get some clothes on. Come downstairs.”</p>
<p>Trisha and the boys were gathered in the living room with Mustang when Riza came down. She’d pulled on the clothes she wore yesterday in record time.</p>
<p>“You two do not leave this room unless I say so,” Trisha was saying, more fierce than Riza had heard her yet.</p>
<p>It was well past sunrise. Mustang and Trisha were captive to the house.</p>
<p>“I think there’s a fire right against the front door,” Mustang said, addressing Riza. As he spoke, she could suddenly smell the smoke. “If I stand back, you can open the door and I can take care of it.”</p>
<p>Riza nodded and walked to the door, her gun in one hand. Smoke seeped in through the thin cracks around the door. Riza waved at Mustang, his gloves at the ready, but he was hidden around the corner in the shadows.</p>
<p>The doorknob was too hot to touch, so she grasped it with the hem of her shirt. Unlatched, the door slammed open, a stack of firewood tumbling toward her. She jumped back against the wall as it blew a wave of heat into the house before Mustang smothered it with a crackle in the air.</p>
<p>“I hear someone out there,” Mustang warned.</p>
<p>Kicking the burnt wood out of the way, Riza stomped out of the house, eyes squinting in the bright sun.</p>
<p>The horror at seeing Yuriy Rockbell’s vacant blue eyes staring at her distracted her just a moment too long to avoid the knife in his hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The smell of Hawkeye’s spilled blood permeated the house, mixing with the fumes from the smoke. It was too bright to look. Roy’s eyes already ached from putting out the fire, but he had heard her gasp in surprise before she grunted in pain.</p>
<p>He snarled, almost lunging to the door when Trisha yanked him back.</p>
<p>“You’ll burn,” she said simply. “Edward—”</p>
<p>Ed rounded the corner, Trisha restraining him by the shirt so he couldn’t run out of the house.</p>
<p>“It’s Dr. Rockbell!” Ed said darkly. “He’s compelled.”</p>
<p>The sounds of scuffling continued.</p>
<p>“I have his weapon,” Hawkeye panted. “If Ed and Al can help me—”</p>
<p>Al darted out, followed by Ed—whose shirt ripped as he escaped his mother’s grasp.</p>
<p>A moment later the boys dragged Yuriy into the living room. Trisha tore into her wrist, giving him her blood while simultaneously compelling him to calm.</p>
<p>Hawkeye stumbled in next, clutching her abdomen, dripping with mouthwatering blood. There were also several deep gashes on her arms.</p>
<p>Roy’s fangs went to his wrist, pulling her against him in one swift motion. He held his dripping wrist to her lips, which she kept firmly closed.</p>
<p>“Riza,” he said gently. “Don’t make me compel you into drinking this. You need it.”</p>
<p>At last, she parted her lips and latched onto him, eyes closing as she sucked. Roy watched her throat flex as she swallowed, the warmth of her mouth and the subtle flick of her tongue on his skin delivering sensuous shivers down his spine.</p>
<p>As his blood joined with her body, a strange possessiveness he couldn’t explain came over him. He only knew he wanted to sink his fangs into her neck.</p>
<p>“Feel better?” he asked, hoping to distance himself. His own thirst was growing. He’d have to dig into the stash of animal blood after all. She’d taken more than he expected.</p>
<p>Hawkeye withdrew, a little blood dribbling down her chin, which she licked.</p>
<p>Roy’s fangs ached with the need to bite, but he forced himself to look over her injuries. Only faint marks remained of what was visible. The boys brought a first aid kit and a wet cloth to wash the blood off, so Roy left Hawkeye with them while he went to speak to Yuriy. He looked dazed, slumped over on the couch while Trisha patted his back.</p>
<p>“Is she all right?” the doctor asked him, looking worriedly at Hawkeye.</p>
<p>“She’s doing better,” Roy answered, probably not as kindly as he should have. He reminded himself it wasn’t Yuriy’s fault. “How are you?”</p>
<p>Yuriy rubbed his arm. “She broke my arm—understandably—but it’s healing as it should. I think it was a clean break.” He sighed heavily.</p>
<p>“Do you remember being compelled?” he questioned.</p>
<p>“It was a woman. Dark hair, very pretty.” Yuriy grimaced. “I was letting the dog out before bed and she was outside the house, waiting. She wanted me to get—” his eyes went to where Ed and Al were doting on Hawkeye.</p>
<p>"I see,” Trisha said, folding in on herself. “They were just baiting Van to leave.”</p>
<p>Roy nodded in quiet agreement. His sire wanted to collect those boys, and he had sent one of his followers to retrieve them. The woman who compelled Yuriy would surely try again.</p>
<p>“We need to leave—tonight,” Roy said.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So yeah, I went with Virgin!Hawkeye, which I'm not sure I believe is true in canon, but in this AU it felt right. She devoted herself to Mustang much earlier in life. Likewise, Ed and Al are more like normal boys because their mother is still alive. And while I know a lot of people salivate over parental Roy and Riza, I think they are too close in age to Ed and Al to really be that way. They are more like an uncle and aunt in this, especially because Trisha is along for the ride.</p>
<p>Let me know what you think! Hopefully I can get the next chapter out sooner this time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Mustang and Hawkeye escort the Elrics to what they hope is a safe place.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Roy went back to bed while Hawkeye stayed awake. They were all unnerved after sending Dr. Rockbell home with a vial of blood to give to the rest of his family just in case they had been compelled, too. Hawkeye promised to keep watch so the vampires could sleep. She seemed well, full of vitality, thanks to his blood. It was more than he could say for himself. She’d taken a bit too much from him. He drank some animal blood before going back to bed, but it was unappetizing when he was craving hers so badly.</p>
<p>As he slept, he dreamt of being wrapped in sheets, Hawkeye’s bare skin, his fangs deep in her throat. He woke up with a gasp, his cock hard, fangs elongated. It took him a few minutes to orient himself to where he was, not in his comfortable basement apartment, but in Hohenheim’s study. Roy was grateful Hawkeye wasn’t in the room—and the temptation to have one off quickly was there, but with two impressionable boys around, he stewed in misery instead.</p>
<p>This assignment had gone to shit, fast. As he dressed, he realized why his dreams were plagued with images of Hawkeye. He had given her his blood, and for vampires that was as good as attaching a piece of your soul with them. He’d given his blood to his aunt, and a few others he had fed from, and he could sense them distantly. But Hawkeye was in the same house, tantalizingly close.</p>
<p>Downstairs Ed and Al were complaining to each other because they weren’t allowed to say goodbye to Winry or the rest of the Rockbells.</p>
<p>The moment Roy caught sight of Hawkeye, scrubbing her bloody shirt in the sink, his fangs descended, his whole body tuning toward her. He made sure to keep his mouth shut and went to grab more animal blood. He poured it into a glass, and Trisha swung by and offered him some wine.</p>
<p>“It helps it go down easier,” she said.</p>
<p>“Having more already?” Hawkeye asked, eyes crinkling in concern. “Did I take too much?”</p>
<p>“You’d been stabbed. I think you took what was necessary,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile. She would worry too much otherwise. Her guilt about his vampirism was greater than it should be, especially considering how much he enjoyed his new lifestyle. Sure, burning to a crisp in the sun was a major sacrifice, but it was manageable most of the time.</p>
<p>“Hmm,” was all she said in reply, going back to her shirt. “I might have to call this done for. Even if I could fix the hole, this blood is not coming out.”</p>
<p>Roy took a final swig of what he was going to call sheep wine and ignored the urge to offer to suck the blood out of her shirt. He admonished himself. He wasn’t even thirsty in the usual way. It could be compared to wanting a dessert, delicious but not essential.</p>
<p>“Let me see if I can’t find something else to try. The boys are always staining their clothes,” Trisha said, disappearing to search upstairs.</p>
<p>“I think I might have a quick look around in town before we leave,” Roy said to Hawkeye. “I shouldn’t be gone more than half an hour.” If possible, it would be easiest to take the Elrics to a safe house Hohenheim owned by train, although he assumed the station would be watched—Selim would expect it. </p>
<p>“You’re too thirsty to go burning energy like that,” Hawkeye pointed out. “You’ve only had animal blood after giving me a lot of yours. You know how you get.”</p>
<p>“Well, this town doesn’t exactly have a wide selection of willing humans. And Hohenheim would kill me if I asked Trisha…though it would hold me over a lot longer.” As it always did with vampire blood. He needed human blood at least once a month, preferably once a week, to keep him at full strength. When he acted as a donor it was more frequent. Vampire blood could sate his thirst for twice as long.</p>
<p>“You could drink from me. Just this once,” she said, holding up a finger in warning. “Since you gave me some of yours earlier. It’s only fair.”</p>
<p>“But you were just hurt.” His hunger told him to shut up and go for it. It was exactly what he wanted.</p>
<p>“And I feel twice as healthy as normal. I can spare some.” She dropped her wet shirt into the sink, drying her hands on a towel.</p>
<p>“I shouldn’t—”</p>
<p>His fangs betrayed him, descending with thirsty enthusiasm. He covered his mouth as she gave him a smug smile.</p>
<p>“Go ahead.” She rolled her eyes at his hesitation. “Just because I don’t want to be a regular donor doesn’t mean I can’t handle it.”</p>
<p>“I know.” That wasn’t why he held back. The last time he’d tasted her blood, he’d wanted to rut against her like an animal. But that was different, he reminded himself. He had better control now, more practice.</p>
<p>“Wrist or…neck?” she asked. </p>
<p>He shouldn’t. There was a reason he always drank from the wrist.</p>
<p>“Neck,” he said lowly, the words flying out before he could stop them. So much for control.</p>
<p>She pulled her hair to the side, revealing the beautiful curve of her neck. Before he could second guess himself, he cradled her head and shoulder, holding her in place. She gasped at the suddenness, and he heard the warm, wet gushing in her heart pick up speed.</p>
<p>He bit down, taking care to ease his fangs in gently.</p>
<p>She’d always smelled better than anyone else to him. He wondered if it was because her blood initiated him into this lifestyle. It was overwhelming, flavors and feelings pulsing through him rapidly. He usually hurried to drink and leave, but he slowed down his pulls to savor each flow of liquid across his tongue. Why was it so good? Would she let him do this again? God, he hoped so.</p>
<p>He couldn’t stop himself. The quietest moan escaped him, and suddenly it was just like the first time. He was unbearably aroused—almost senseless. He wanted to bury his cock inside her while he fed from her, something he had always thought was overkill. <br/>He grunted, biting down the tiniest bit harder.  Her breath hitched, and he wanted to grind against her, but he held himself in check, remembering the Elric brothers in the next room—and Trisha upstairs.</p>
<p>Caving to one last taste, he released her with a gasp, licking the wound closed out of habit. Hawkeye shivered against him and he leaned back just enough to gauge her reaction. Her amber eyes were soft, pupils blown wide, and her steady heartbeat danced just a little faster. He wanted to kiss her, but he was also a coward.</p>
<p>“Better than the sheep wine, that’s for sure,” he said, breaking the tension. He didn’t want to let on how turned on he was.</p>
<p>“Sheep wine?” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roy sprinted to town as soon as it was dark enough and found several humans standing suspiciously still and quiet near the train station, positioned at every entrance. They were waiting.</p>
<p>He expected it, but Hawkeye wasn’t going to like it. This meant they would have to cut across the country on foot to the next town over. </p>
<p>Returning to the Elric house, Roy gave Riza the bad news. She sighed. “Well, I better go consolidate our bags—two bags will be too cumbersome if I have to be carried.” She held up an angry finger. “On your back.”</p>
<p>Roy laughed, his smile lingering until he took his post outside to keep watch. He settled under the tree, checking his gun and his gloves.</p>
<p>It wasn’t long before Ed appeared.</p>
<p>“Riza is not happy about this,” Ed informed him. “She told Mom it makes her feel like an invalid.”</p>
<p>“Well, to make it to our destination before sunrise, it’s what we have to do. She knows that,” Roy explained, watching the boy in amusement. Ed was fidgeting—tugging his braid, tucking his hands in and out of his pockets.</p>
<p>“Why is she still human?” Ed asked out of the blue. “She has your blood in her. Why don’t you just snap her neck and keep her forever?”</p>
<p>Roy choked. “What?”</p>
<p>“Riza,” Ed clarified, as if Roy just hadn’t known who he meant.</p>
<p>“Turning someone…isn’t a science. It fails almost as often as it succeeds.” And Roy had no plans to live forever. He would step into the sun when the time was right. Immortality had no appeal to him. Hawkeye’s own thoughts on immortality were…murky. She once said being a vampire was better than being dead, but he wasn’t sure she thought it was better than being alive and human. Going out into the sun.</p>
<p>Roy wouldn’t say vampirism was superior to humanity, but if he could choose to return to being a human, it would be a difficult choice.  Blood was divine—Hawkeye’s was especially intoxicating. Smells were stronger, but not in a bad way. It made things interesting. And with the difference in his vision and senses, the moon felt as warm as the sun had when he was human. Regular food tasted better, too. He didn’t need as much anymore, but what he did eat was a full explosion of flavors, even if it was just a simple tomato off the vine. The increased strength and speed were undoubtedly his favorite though.</p>
<p>Ed must have been deep in thought too because he said, “That must be why Dad says I can’t go around changing all my friends into vampires when I’m older.”</p>
<p>Roy held back a laugh. “Probably not the best idea, no.”</p>
<p>“But…I don’t want to live forever without Winry.” Ed sighed. “Don’t you feel that way about Riza? You guys are best friends, right?”</p>
<p>A dark something twisted in Roy’s gut.</p>
<p>“Yes, best friends. I’ve known her since she was about your age.” Back when her best friend was a dog, and Roy’s best friend was his alchemy studies.</p>
<p>Berthold Hawkeye was a brilliant man, but a mediocre father. He’d been fearful of vampires ever since his wife was killed by one, and his research in flame alchemy was born from his desire to destroy vampires. It had taken precedence over everything in his life, even raising Riza. But Berthold loved his daughter, and Roy guessed that some of his obsession in finding a weapon against vampires came from the need to keep her safe. Roy had been tossed out of the house when he’d argued making peace with vampires was for the good of all, but when his master was dying…he had asked Roy to protect her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>An underground tunnel beneath the house had been as much a surprise to Edward and Alphonse as it had to Riza and Mustang. Trisha had given a nervous smile as she uncovered a secret opening in the closet floor.</p>
<p>“Wow!” the boys cheered, jumping down into the dirt, bags over their shoulders. Riza was much less enthused, but grateful they could leave the house unseen from the outside.</p>
<p>“Hohenheim has been working on these since he turned me,” Trisha said. “About fifteen years ago.”</p>
<p>“This is the best trip ever!” Al said, his voice muffled inside the tunnel.</p>
<p>Trisha dropped down next. “Boys, don’t run ahead. There are some dead ends your father constructed on purpose. You’ll get lost on your own and wind up in Xing or someplace.”</p>
<p>“Al’s right. This is kind of fun,” Mustang said, grinning at Riza as he took their bag and leapt into the tunnel. Riza was last. She peered down the opening. It was a farther drop than it looked. Of course, Hohenheim built it with vampires in mind, not a petite human.</p>
<p>“Is there a ladder?” she asked, without hope for an affirmative.</p>
<p>“Just slide down on your stomach and I’ll catch you,” Mustang said.</p>
<p>And probably get an unflattering view of her backside, she thought sourly, but she did as instructed, aware that dropping straight to the floor would likely sprain her ankles if Mustang missed.</p>
<p>“Ugh,” she said, fighting the urge to kick her legs for a foothold the farther down she went.</p>
<p>She felt Mustang’s hands steady her, easing her descent. Then things went in a different direction as she lowered herself more. His hands ran up her legs, across her hips, until she was on the ground pressed against him, chest to chest. Oh, that was—</p>
<p>He released her with a nervous chuckle, practically shoving her away.</p>
<p>“See? Simple,” he said.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” she said, taking in the tunnel before them. It was pitch black. “I won’t be able to see a thing.”</p>
<p>Mustang snapped his fingers, illuminating the long tunnel before them. He also lit a candle Trisha was suddenly holding.</p>
<p>“You’ll still have to be carried,” he told her, “but any light will just blow out.” </p>
<p>Riza understood. Not only did she have to be carried like a child, she had to do it while blind. She couldn’t shoot in the dark.</p>
<p>“I can’t remember the last time I rode on someone’s back,” she groused, as the boys giggled at her predicament.</p>
<p>“Just hop on!” Al said encouragingly. He demonstrated by tackling his older brother, then squeezing his neck in a pretend chokehold while Ed dramatically gasped for air.</p>
<p>“I hate being such a burden,” Riza said, but as Mustang squatted down, she winked at the boys and ran at him, pretending to choke him just as Al had done to Ed. She grinned as they laughed—even Trisha’s worry lines fading as Mustang acted like he was going to drop her. He recognized what Riza wanted to do for the family: put them at ease.</p>
<p>“I’ve given you a piggyback ride before, you know,” Mustang said. “You must’ve been twelve because I was about sixteen. You sprained your ankle and couldn’t walk home from school,” he said.</p>
<p>“Oh! I forgot. That might have been the last time I did this.” She’d been in too much pain to have any fun with the experience back then.</p>
<p>“And here we are again,” he said fondly, except when he gave her thighs a friendly squeeze, it made her heart race in a very non-platonic way.</p>
<p>The rest of the run through the tunnel was as unpleasant as she expected. Her human body wasn’t made for being jostled at high speeds, and her teeth were clenched together to keep from biting her tongue. No matter how careful Mustang was, he could not cushion her perfectly. Worse, being totally blind meant she could only concentrate on her other senses. The smell of Mustang’s aftershave, the way his large hands adjusted his grip on her thighs whenever he took a turn or ran down a steep slope, the warmth of his back…</p>
<p>Forcing those thoughts from her mind, she concentrated on alternate routes to the safe house in Central Trisha wanted to go to.</p>
<p>They finally stopped at an exit, which was as bad as the entrance at the Elric home. This time Trisha gave Riza a boost while Mustang pulled her up. Out of the tunnel, they found themselves under a bridge that reached over a wide creek—which explained the earthy-fish smell that had appeared in the tunnel.</p>
<p>“I know my way around, so I’ll go check the train station. They have a midnight train we could still catch,” Trisha said.</p>
<p>“Mom,” Ed started to protest, but she blew her sons a kiss and vanished. Mustang didn’t have time to argue either.</p>
<p>“It’s probably for the best. You’ve never been here before,” Riza said. “And leaving me with the boys in the dark—” She shrugged. </p>
<p>“Yes, you’re right,” Mustang said. “If your mother takes longer than thirty minutes,” he addressed the boys, “I’ll go after her.”</p>
<p>“At least the tunnels were fun,” Al said optimistically. “I wonder why Mom and Dad didn’t tell us?”</p>
<p>“To keep you quiet about it. You know you can’t keep a secret,” Ed teased.</p>
<p>“Yes, I can!”</p>
<p>While the boys began listing the various secrets the other had spilled over the years, Mustang turned to Riza.</p>
<p>“We might have to separate,” he said. “You could go with the boys to the safe house. Travel in the daytime.”</p>
<p>“Only if we have to,” Riza said, but his logic was sound. She was torn between her responsibility to watch over Mustang versus the family. She could not protect them all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Trisha returned, she was running at full tilt, her dress flying behind her. Roy heard her arriving before the others, so he leapt to attention, nudging Hawkeye. </p>
<p>“Quick,” Trisha whispered urgently. “Back to the tunnel!”</p>
<p>The boys dropped in first, followed by Trisha, Roy made the executive decision to grab Hawkeye and leap down with her in his arms. He could tell it was a rough landing, but she only grunted.</p>
<p>“We need to seal the entrance with alchemy,” Roy said. Ed was quick, concentrating for a moment before clapping. With a brief glow, it was done.</p>
<p>“Now we run. They can probably still hear us down here,” Hawkeye said, wiggling out of Roy’s arms. He was momentarily confused as she kept her hands on him, fingers tracing across his chest and arms, before he realized she couldn’t see in the darkness and was trying to climb on his back. He helped her up, reveling in the sensation of her arms around his neck. She smelled good, and his fangs, wildly misbehaving on this assignment, were aching to sink into her veins.</p>
<p>They kept a brisk pace until the boys tired and needed a more human speed. Roy could feel Hawkeye’s relief as she relaxed against him.</p>
<p>“I could walk,” she said, and he heard the sluggishness in her voice. He wondered how much sleep she’d managed the past few days.</p>
<p>“Stay put,” he said. “If we need to take off, you’re already in position.”</p>
<p>The group remained quiet, fearing anyone following them would overhear them. Trisha led the way—only she knew where they were going.</p>
<p>It was almost sunrise when they neared the other safe house’s entrance, stopping far enough out that their presence wouldn’t be noticed.</p>
<p>“A friend lives here,” Trisha said. “Well, Van’s friend. I haven’t been able to meet him much. He doesn’t know about the boys.”</p>
<p>That wasn’t ideal. “Can you trust him?”</p>
<p>“Van believes so. And they have an agreement about the tunnels. Barry can come to our home as easily as we can go to his in an emergency. It’s been a couple of years and he’s never abused it. He’s one of only a few who have direct access.”</p>
<p>Roy clutched Hawkeye closer. He wasn’t sure how he felt about introducing an unknown vampire to his very human companion.</p>
<p>“How about Hawkeye stays back with the boys while we introduce ourselves?” Roy suggested.</p>
<p>“Good idea,” Trisha said.</p>
<p>Roy reluctantly put Hawkeye down, guiding her to sit beside the boys. He got the candle Trisha had brought along, setting it up in front of them with a snap of his fingers.</p>
<p>“Can we eat something?” Al asked. “I’m so hungry.”</p>
<p>“Just wait until I get back. I have some snacks in the bag,” Trisha said.</p>
<p>“And what if Dad’s friend doesn’t let us in?” Ed asked.</p>
<p>“Then we sleep in the tunnels. It will be like camping,” Trisha said, forcing a smile.</p>
<p>No one wanted to sleep in the cramped tunnels. It wasn’t even wide enough for two people to walk comfortably side by side. Not to mention the many little creatures who had made their home here.</p>
<p>It was with this concern in mind that Roy and Trisha hurried down the tunnel. Unlike the other exits they had passed, this one had a heavy door with an elaborate “S” carved into the wood—an old symbol for vampires to know they could find shelter there. Trisha forced open the trap door. Roy watched from below, ready to snap.</p>
<p>“Hello!” a grating voice cheered from above. “Trisha, my beauty, is that you?”</p>
<p>“You shameless flirt,” she said, flustered.</p>
<p>A stocky man with wild, stringy hair peered down at them.</p>
<p>“And who’s this guy? You cheating on my man Van?” Barry asked, his voice teasing. Then he inhaled deeply, his eyes focusing on Roy. “And you have a tasty smelling human with you. And…two others?”</p>
<p>Roy was impressed with Barry’s sense of smell, but very displeased with his description of Hawkeye. Even if he agreed.</p>
<p>“We’re in a bit of a bind,” Trisha said, letting Barry hoist her out of the tunnel. Roy pulled himself out, keeping an eye on Barry. The tunnel connected to a small, messy wine cellar. There was more wine than it could contain, and the bottles had been lined in tight rows on the floor with no semblance of order. Barry was either a lush, a hoarder, or both.</p>
<p>As Trisha explained the situation to Barry, the vampire just laughed and laughed as the story got more outrageous. He didn’t seem to hold it against them that Hohenheim and Trisha hadn’t mentioned their sons before, but Roy didn’t know Barry well enough to tell if he was putting on a front. Barry was also delighted to have a vampire celebrity gracing his home. The Flame Alchemist had a reputation, for better or worse. At least he knew Roy could burn him alive if he tried anything.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>An hour later, Barry had put together a small but strange feast in his blacked-out dining room. The table had been covered in old newspapers, dishes, and knickknacks, but Barry had cleared it off without complaint while cooking dinner.</p>
<p>“I used to be a butcher, but I was never a good cook,” Barry said as the water boiled over. Trisha had stepped in to help, and together they found enough to feed everyone. Trisha acted cheerful and helpful, but she had borrowed Barry’s phone and gone through half a dozen numbers attempting to reach Hohenheim. He hadn’t answered, meaning he had no idea what had happened to his family. When Roy saw her hang up the phone the last time, she had looked defeated, her face pinched unpleasantly.</p>
<p>At dinner, Ed and Al were all over the sandwiches and spaghetti like it was the perfect pairing. To kids, it probably was.</p>
<p>Hawkeye tackled the spaghetti with perfect manners, but Roy could tell she wanted to dig in with the same gusto as the boys. Her stomach had been growling with hunger for hours. Roy and the other vampires didn’t need to eat as much, so he gave her half his sandwich when she wasn’t looking. He could admit some of it was for selfish reasons—her blood smelled better when she was well fed. She ate it without complaining of his generosity, which said something of her hunger. </p>
<p>“Dad said you used to kill people when you were human,” Ed said to Barry, in that forthright way he always used. “Is that true?”</p>
<p>Barry guffawed. “Oh, he told you that, did he?” Roy looked over at Trisha who was avoiding his gaze. “It’s very true. You might know me as Barry the Chopper.”</p>
<p>Roy’s eyebrows shot up. He knew well of that serial killer. “You were supposed to have been executed!”</p>
<p>“And I was,” Barry said, putting on a ghostly voice as the young boys listened raptly, eyes wide. “Before my execution, a strange woman came and started asking me questions. Was I related to any other vampires? Had I had vampire blood before? Had I let a vampire drink from me? On and on. After I was executed…I woke up in a lab, and they studied me like a lab rat.”</p>
<p>“Then the government was behind this?” Hawkeye asked, putting down her fork. Her undivided attention to her food had been diverted.</p>
<p>“They wanted to see if there were any conditions that made vampire transformation more favorable,” he said. “There were many others there in the labs—some prisoners, some folks taken right off the street. All vampires. And just as many corpses leftover from the failed attempts.”</p>
<p>“So they wanted to turn more vampires,” Roy said, the grim truths behind the former regime were endless. Just when he thought he’d heard the worst of it, something new was uncovered.</p>
<p>“For a vampire army,” Barry said, laughing again. “Crazy bastards.”</p>
<p>“How long were you there?” Hawkeye asked. </p>
<p>“Only a year or so. Then the uprising began. They wanted us all to fight for their side, but many went AWOL. Including me.”</p>
<p>“And did you start killing innocent people again?” Hawkeye asked. The conversation was beginning to sound like an interrogation.</p>
<p>“Nah, as a vampire, turns out my bloodlust is easier to sate now that I drink blood,” Barry gave a toothy grin. “I’ve been on my best behavior since I turned.”</p>
<p>Hawkeye looked skeptical but said nothing. Roy wagered she didn’t approve. He mused over the ethics of Barry’s situation. Technically, Barry had suffered the punishment of his crimes. Should they imprison him again? Capturing vampires during the uprising had been challenging, usually ending in death rather than imprisonment, but they had found the right blend of reinforced metals that had successfully held vampires. Or most. Alchemist vampires were a different breed altogether.</p>
<p>But Roy had a bigger question on his mind he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Did they learn the secret to becoming a vampire?” He tried not to look at Hawkeye because he wasn’t going to change her when she was healthy and well, but if she was dying…</p>
<p>“No. It remains a mystery,” Barry said. “Ol’ Van delved into it, too, when he found this pretty thing,” he said, leering at Trisha. </p>
<p>“Gross,” Ed said under his breath.</p>
<p>“You and Hohenheim were together before you were a vampire?” Hawkeye asked her. Roy had heard the story from Hohenheim. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to tell Hawkeye about it. It wasn’t a story he would share in front of children, either.</p>
<p>Trisha nodded. “We were. I found him irresistibly charming.” She said softly, eyes misty. “We were already married when I became very ill quite suddenly…” she drifted off. She looked at her sons and was able to summon a genuine smile. “And luckily when I died, I was able to return.”</p>
<p>Trisha left out the worst of it. Hohenheim said she was so ill near the end, her quality of life in shreds, that she had asked for his blood one last time. The next morning while he was in town, she’d ended her suffering. Alone.</p>
<p>Roy hid his grimace with his glass of wine.</p>
<p>He reflected on Hohenheim’s original plan. After marrying Trisha, he wanted to age himself alongside her. Vampires usually manipulated their age to be younger, but growing older beside a treasured human had been done on occasion—or so Roy had heard.<br/>If Trisha’s transformation had failed, her husband would have let the sun end his immortal life.</p>
<p>Roy could think of only one person whose death could drive him to do the same, but he also had made her a promise to destroy the vampires who sought to enslave humanity. Could he strive for that goal without her by his side?</p>
<p>“What about little missy here? How’d you get mixed up with the Flame Alchemist?” Barry asked, his eyes on the pulse in Hawkeye’s neck. Roy fought the urge to pull out his gloves.</p>
<p>“He used to give me piggyback rides when I was a girl,” Hawkeye said, glancing at Roy as her amber eyes twinkled.</p>
<p>Barry laughed uproariously. “So you’re just…old friends? Or do you hang around as a donor?”</p>
<p>“To be most accurate, right now he’s my boss,” she replied, casually twirling her fork on her plate. Didn’t she see where Barry was headed with this line of questioning? Roy threw back the last of his wine like a shot.</p>
<p>“I just need to know about the sleeping arrangements,” Barry said. “If you two want to bunk together, or if you want to share with me, or—”</p>
<p>“Barry! Can’t you tell Uncle Roy is about to incinerate you?” Ed chimed in, causing Al to spit out his water as he giggled. Trisha halfheartedly scolded Ed for rudeness, but she was smiling too much to be effective.</p>
<p>Hawkeye turned to Roy. “Really, sir?”</p>
<p>He held up his hands in surrender.</p>
<p>“Uncle Roy and Riza were sharing a room at our house,” Al said innocently, slurping up a noodle. “And I saw him drinking her blood in the kitchen.”</p>
<p>“I see how it is!” Barry said.</p>
<p>“It’s really not like that,” Hawkeye said, and Roy was pleased to see her cheeks were pink.</p>
<p>“So you didn’t give him your blood?” Trisha asked, sounding a lot like her younger son. Deceptive. Trisha came off sweet and motherly, but there was a feisty vampire in there, after all. Roy’s respect for her rose.</p>
<p>“Well, yes,” Hawkeye stumbled over her words.</p>
<p>“From the neck!” Ed added. “And everybody knows what that means.”</p>
<p>“What does it mean?” Al asked, baffled. </p>
<p>Trisha shushed them. “Boys, finish eating. It’s far past your bedtime.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Living the bachelor life, Barry had only one extra bedroom. He gave his own to Trisha and the boys, offering Hawkeye and Roy the other while giving an obscene wink. He also insisted on taking over the watch, saying the five of them needed their rest. Roy was hesitant, but there was no polite way to refuse him. Besides, it was daytime, and threats could only be compelled humans. Easy enough for one vampire, and there were two more on hand plus a sharpshooter.</p>
<p>Roy and Hawkeye each took a look around the house, familiarizing themselves with the floor plan before returning to their assigned bedroom. Everything was a bit messy. Barry had haphazardly tidied up, shoving books and clothes onto the floor with enough room to walk to the bed. Roy was sure it was never used for guests. There was a disturbing collection of butcher knives displayed on one wall, warning anyone who wanted to sleep here that their host was a madman.</p>
<p>Hawkeye crawled onto the bed with the determination of a soldier, boots still on.</p>
<p>“You’re just going to sleep?” Roy teased, but he was oddly apprehensive seeing how small the bed was. He didn’t trust himself. Her cloying scent invited him closer, and he barely kept his fangs in check.</p>
<p>“I could go keep watch with Barry, if you’d like,” she said, propping her head on her hand. Roy buried the rush of unreasonable jealousy at the thought of her alone with their creepy host.</p>
<p>“Just wondering where that atrocious nightgown is,” he said instead.</p>
<p>“I had to leave it at the Elric home,” she said. “Not enough room in one bag for both our things.”</p>
<p>The disappointment must have shown on his face because she sat up on the bed.</p>
<p>“I’m on to you,” she said, wagging a finger at him.</p>
<p>“It’s hideous,” he insisted, even as his cheeks grew warm.</p>
<p>She grinned and settled back down to sleep. Roy turned off the light, deciding to take his cue from her and keep even his shoes on. Even with the light off, his vision still allowed him to see her. The room was stuffy and warm, but it meant no blankets, so he watched her curl up on her side, leaving him space behind her back.</p>
<p>He crept in beside her, aware of the creaking of the bed as his weight joined hers. It all felt incredibly intimate. He only shared beds with women he had sex with. He listened greedily to the swiftness of her breathing and heartbeat. Outwardly, she was stoic and still. If he were still human, he’d think her unaffected by his proximity. She was not.</p>
<p>Why she was reacting was a mystery he couldn’t confidently solve. Was she attracted to him? Possibly. Was it merely the novelty of sharing a bed with a man? Or because he was that man? Since learning she was still a virgin, he had been replaying the years of their friendship in a new light.</p>
<p>Hawkeye had been so young when she gave him the secrets to flame alchemy—only sixteen. Roy had been twenty, but his thoughts had been academic and focused. Now it made him wonder if he was the only one to have seen her lethal tattoo, and why that made him so happy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ambush came midday. Riza was awakened by Mustang jostling her awake.</p>
<p>“Get your guns, head to the Elrics’ room,” he whispered. He bolted out the door.</p>
<p>Familiar with this kind of wake up from her days in the militia, Riza was out the door in under a minute, heart pounding, mind focused on her destination.</p>
<p>Gun drawn, she heard scuffling and snarling downstairs. A snap followed by gut-wrenching screams. Riza knocked on the door where the family had been sleeping.</p>
<p>“Trisha? Are you all okay?” Riza asked, watching the staircase—the only way to access the upstairs. Windows, maybe, if they were desperate.</p>
<p>“We’re fine,” Trisha said through the door, her voice strained. “They somehow transported vampires here. I think there are at least two.”</p>
<p>As if summoned, an unfamiliar vampire blurred at the top of the stairs, rushing at Riza. He was heavyset, but frighteningly fast—and armed. Riza aimed her pistol for his bald head, pulling the trigger at the same time the vampire returned fire. Blood and brains sprayed across the wallpaper, and Riza dodged, tumbling into a stack of boxes. Something sharp cut across her hand, but the vampire’s bullet missed her. She repositioned herself behind the boxes, adrenaline thrumming through her as she waited a moment to see if anyone else appeared. The violent noises from below continued.</p>
<p>As stealthily as she could manage, she hurried down the stairs, past the corpse of the vampire, pausing at the bottom to peer around the corner. The clutter of Barry’s home looked like a tornado had swept through. The stench of burnt vampire hung in the air, and two humans writhed on the floor in agony, while two others wrestled against Mustang’s far greater strength. Riza could tell he was trying to be gentle, in case they were compelled, but Riza had no such qualms. She shot one in the leg, the other the arm. </p>
<p>The pain overrode their ability to fight back.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” Mustang huffed.</p>
<p>“Is that all of them?” she asked, not moving from her post. </p>
<p>“Two more humans outside. You got the big guy?” he asked.</p>
<p>“Yes,” she said. “And the family is safe.”</p>
<p>“Good. Can you take care of the two outside? I’ll deal with these four,” he said, binding the intruders’ hands with scraps of fabric he ripped from their own shirts. The humans were all large, younger men, dressed in rough clothes—something poorer folks would wear. Riza suspected they had been compelled because of their strength. If they even had been compelled. Sometimes people pretended to be compelled to escape consequences. Mustang would find out.</p>
<p>Riza slipped outside into the bright sunshine, seeing Barry’s home from the outside for the first time. It was an isolated house, surrounded by trees, with a long driveway where a large truck was parked. There was no sign of the two humans except the truck’s motor rumbling. Riza bumped into a large box, and she figured it must have been used to somehow smuggle the vampires into the house—unless they had known about the tunnel, which was a possibility if Barry had betrayed them. She hadn’t seen him with Mustang.</p>
<p>Riza hunkered behind the box, wishing for a little more coverage to approach the truck. There was too much open space. </p>
<p>But her targets made it easy for her. They dropped out of the truck, guns drawn without skill, more for threatening her. Riza disabled them as she had many soldiers over the years. A bullet for each of them.</p>
<p>“Drop your weapons!” she yelled, approaching with caution. She didn’t want to shoot either of them again, but she would. They refused, and one of them aimed at her. She shot at his wrist, forcibly disarming him. The other took a shot at her, but his arm had already been shot. His bullet went wide.</p>
<p>After that, her greatest challenge was dragging two grown men across the wide expanse of yard as they cussed at her and cried out in pain. One of them took a swing at her, and her cheek was still throbbing when Ed and Al tiptoed into the yard like skittish kittens.</p>
<p>“Mom said we could help you,” Ed explained.</p>
<p>“Go for it,” she said. Or she was going to lose her temper and shoot the intruders dead.</p>
<p>The brothers had no sympathy for the humans, pulling them through the gravel without mercy much faster than Riza was capable. She took more satisfaction than she should have from the men’s shock as they were bested by mere boys.</p>
<p>Inside, Mustang was donating blood to each human, and compelling them for answers one by one, despite what looked like worrisome injuries. He was pushing himself too far again, Riza thought.</p>
<p>Trisha had also made an appearance and had her wrist in Barry’s mouth. He was covered in slashes. It looked like he had been thrown against a wall, based on the dent above him.</p>
<p>He finished feeding and groggily waved Riza over. </p>
<p>“Oh, missy, you have a shiner marring that gorgeous cheek of yours,” he said, his words slurring as he sat up. “I’d give you some of my blood, but as you can see, I’m fresh out.”</p>
<p>Riza smiled gently. “It’s nothing serious, but thank you for the offer.”</p>
<p>Trisha joined Mustang compelling the humans. After they had their information, they compelled the men to forget everything and go home in the truck.</p>
<p>“Two of them did it for money, the rest were compelled,” Mustang told Riza grimly. “I think the female vampire,” he pointed at some ashes, “was the same one who used Dr. Rockbell.”</p>
<p>“That’s a relief,” Riza said.</p>
<p>“Yes and no,” Mustang said. “How did they find us here? Do they know the tunnels and where they connect to?”</p>
<p>“Maybe we should avoid the tunnels for now,” Trisha said, attempting to sweep some cracked drywall from where Barry had been smashed into it.</p>
<p>“I think that’s best,” Mustang agreed. He ran his hands through his hair, falling into a chair in exhaustion. “We’re all tired. We have no way to contact Hohenheim safely…Let’s rest until sunset, then head out on foot.” Riza’s exhausted body approved of the idea. </p>
<p>“I could drive you part way,” Barry said. “I have a safe place on the way to Central. It’s not much, but you’ll be protected from the sun.”</p>
<p>The boys were sent up to bed while the adults sketched out a more thorough plan for nightfall and fixed up Barry’s house. It was only when Riza finally marched up the stairs to return to bed that she remembered the body of the vampire she had killed—but it was gone, only a black, smoky spot left behind. </p>
<p>She hoped the boys hadn’t seen it before Mustang took care of it. As if reading her mind, he caught up to her.</p>
<p>“Only Trisha saw him. And good riddance to that bastard,” he said, giving Riza a nudge toward the bedroom door. “He took a bite out of my arm!”</p>
<p>Riza looked closer at Mustang with concern. His black shirt disguised the fact he was covered in blood. Like Barry, his wounds had healed, but Mustang and Trisha had only had animal blood from Barry’s stash. Mustang was still stronger than Riza, without question, but he wouldn’t be as strong as a well-fed vampire. His thirst would be a weakness she would need to compensate for.</p>
<p>“You’re a mess. Why don’t you go wash up first?” she offered. He nodded and left.</p>
<p>Riza went to the bedroom, brushed her hair and picked out a clean change of clothes while Mustang was gone. Then she took a turn in the bathroom. Looking in Barry’s dingy mirror, she could tell she was going to have a black eye. And while washing her hand she reopened the cut on her palm. She would have to dig through her bag for some bandages.</p>
<p>She opened the door to the bedroom quietly, and found Mustang already lying down, hands tucked under the back of his head. The moment she shut the door, he scurried to the end of the creaky bed.</p>
<p>“Uh, you’re bleeding,” he said, his whole body rigid and focused on her. Like a predator. It was very unlike him. She had cut herself numerous times in front of him—and other vampires—without issue.</p>
<p>“Oh, yes, I scraped my hand. Nothing major,” she said. She gasped when suddenly he was only a foot away.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” he apologized, stumbling back to the bed. “I’m a bit thirstier than I thought.”</p>
<p>“I don’t want to make a habit of it, but…I can give you mine again.”</p>
<p>His tongue ran across his fangs. “You’re tired. And hurt.”</p>
<p>“You’re the one best equipped to protect that family. You need to be at your best.” She thought of the embarrassing teasing from the boys at dinner and offered her wrist, resisting the urge to crane her head to the side.</p>
<p>“You’re far too generous, Hawkeye,” he said. He took her hand instead, spreading her fingers apart and studying the thin slice that marred her skin. His breath fanned over her palm while she held her own breath in anticipation. He merely licked across her hand to ensure the wound would close.</p>
<p>She shivered at the sensation of his tongue but was startled by the burn of disappointment he wasn’t going to feed from her. Then he quickly yanked her into his lap as he settled them on the bed, his hand hot and intimate on her waist. His lips brushed the side of her neck, hesitating as he waited for permission.</p>
<p>And part of her thought she should stop him, offer her wrist and return to the vampire hunting partnership they had before—nothing but a professional friendship.</p>
<p>She arched her neck.</p>
<p>“Please.”</p>
<p>His fangs pierced her neck, groaning as he sucked on her flesh. His hand stroked down to the small of her back, resting just above the curves below.</p>
<p>Heat flooded through her, radiating to her core. Fighting the urge to squirm on his lap, she clutched his shirt tightly as she panted raggedly. What was it about feeding him that aroused her so much? She knew there was a relaxant in their saliva, kind of like certain spiders, but this was different. Her whole body hummed in anticipation, like his bite was just preparing her for something more carnal. Maybe she should be worried. She wasn’t.</p>
<p>A woozy feeling overcame her, and she reached her hand to cup his cheek.</p>
<p>“Roy, that’s too much,” she said.</p>
<p>He immediately pulled back, biting his wrist and holding it up to her. Still high from the intoxicating experience of feeding him, she bent her head to drink, the heady taste buzzing through her like strong wine. It was addictive.</p>
<p>Her mind lost to sensations, it was with dim awareness she realized she was rocking against something thick and hard. She stilled her hips as embarrassment coursed through her, releasing his wrist and licking her lips.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” she said. She closed her eyes, unable to look at him.</p>
<p>“Never be sorry for that,” he gasped. And then he rolled them so he was on top of her, her legs wrapping around him instinctually to grind against him through their clothes. She wanted more friction, more bare skin.</p>
<p>“You taste so good,” he murmured, nuzzling into her neck as she carded her fingers through his hair. “I want to taste you everywhere.”</p>
<p>Then his hands froze at her waist, body tensing.</p>
<p>“What is it?” she asked, mirroring his posture. The high of being in his arms was washed away with cold fear. And something that was almost regret seeped into her bones.</p>
<p>Then Mustang rolled off her with a string of frustrated curses, and she realized she was missing something.</p>
<p>“Barry is a bastard,” Mustang said, voice at regular volume. A cackle came from downstairs. Oh.</p>
<p>“It’s for the best. You’re always mixing food with pleasure. It was bound to happen,” she said, giving him an out. Or herself. She wasn’t sure.</p>
<p>“Uh, yes,” he said with palpable relief. “I’m sure your father would disapprove of you working for a vampire, let alone…” He trailed off awkwardly.</p>
<p>“Very true.” Her father would have never given a vampire sympathizer his alchemy, or even worked with a vampire. And he would have thrown her out for willingly sharing blood with one.</p>
<p>“I’m going to take a quick shower,” Mustang said, disappearing without another word.</p>
<p>She heard Barry laughing again and another rush of mortification hit her. If Barry had heard her with Mustang, the Elrics could have, too. With shame, Riza remembered they were on a dangerous assignment, protecting a lovely family from harm. It was not the time to fall into bed with her boss. And realistically, it should never happen, assignment or not. There was a complex, painful history between them that she was sure sex wouldn’t help whatsoever. </p>
<p>Maybe if there were some genuine feeling on his end, but she knew Roy Mustang. He flitted from woman to woman, and while moments ago Riza wanted to lose herself to the thrill of touching and being touched by him…She also knew she was a serious, monogamous person. It was one of the reasons she was still a virgin. And with Mustang, her heart could not afford to be careless. He was too important to her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am hoping to have this all posted before Halloween, but editing this monster of a chapter took longer than I thought, so I can't imagine how the next two will go. </p>
<p>By the way, Barry is my favorite thing so far. I hope you enjoyed this version of him. You can comment here or find me on tumblr at poppy-pelican (although it's not much). Thanks for reading!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At sunset, the party of six piled into Barry’s truck. Trisha had tried the phone again to call her husband with no luck. The first stop was at a market for more supplies, then to gas up the truck before driving nonstop to Barry’s safe house.</p>
<p>Riza was offered the seat of honor beside Barry, but she forced Al into being the buffer to sit between them. The other three road in the back, enjoying the warm summer wind in the open air. Ed fell asleep, his snores reaching even over the sound of the truck. Al’s head flopped onto Riza’s shoulder not long after, but at least he didn’t snore.</p>
<p>She was once again hit by how wonderful the family was. It was unlike the usual assignments she had working with Mustang. This time it was about protecting life directly rather than protecting life by taking another. </p>
<p>Not for the first time, she wondered at Selim Bradley’s interest in the boys. Was it worth the cost of the two vampires they had killed at Barry’s home? She could only hope that after foregoing the tunnels, the family would be safe until they reunited with Hohenheim. Unless he had not dealt with his sire. Then they would need to strategize again.</p>
<p>They arrived at Barry’s safe house. House was a bit of a stretch. It was more of a shack, hidden away in the woods much like his other home.</p>
<p>“Take care, kids!” Barry said. He needed to hurry back by sunrise. “I’ll try giving Ol’ Van a call, too. Maybe I can reach him at some of the addresses I have.”</p>
<p>As they waved goodbye, Mustang waved a rude gesture that made the boys laugh while Barry returned the same gesture out the window as he drove off. Riza shared an exasperated look with Trisha. She was probably wondering how an immature buffoon like Mustang had been entrusted with her sons’ lives.</p>
<p>Stepping inside the shack, Riza wrinkled her nose.</p>
<p>“It smell like rotten meat to anyone else?” Mustang asked.</p>
<p>“Oh dear. I bet this is one of Barry’s old haunts from…his human life,” Trisha said, covering her nose.</p>
<p>“Like…where he used to chop people up?” Al asked, the question more of a squeak.</p>
<p>“Maybe you kids should go play outside while I…clean this place up,” Trisha said.</p>
<p>“I’ll help. Mustang can keep watch outside,” Riza offered. He was better suited for looking after wild vampire boys in the dark than she was.</p>
<p>“I still don’t think I’ll want to sleep here,” Ed said. Riza privately agreed.</p>
<p>“It’s probably haunted,” Al said. His eyes darted around the bare walls in fear. He looked more afraid of the supernatural than he had the very real dangers chasing after them.</p>
<p>“This really isn’t fun anymore,” Ed grumbled.</p>
<p>“When was it ever fun?” Trisha scolded, but she laughed.</p>
<p>“All this because that guy thinks our blood is special?” Al asked her quietly.</p>
<p>“He’s a desperate creature searching for a way to play god,” Trisha said. She kissed the top of Al’s head. “And while you two are very special, it’s not in the way Selim thinks.”</p>
<p>Roy opened a window, not looking at anyone as he asked, “There are other vampire children. Why is Selim so set on these two?”</p>
<p>“Van is a very old vampire—from Xerxes. A vampire his age has never had children before.”</p>
<p>Riza was stunned. And Selim would use the brothers like a specimen, like Barry and countless others. Her stomach churned.</p>
<p>“That’s…that’s very old,” Mustang said. Riza was surprised he didn’t know Hohenheim’s age either.</p>
<p>“There are those centuries older than Van, but they have no interest in having children,” Trisha said. “I just hope he can convince Selim this is nonsense.”</p>
<p>“If not, you have our support,” Riza said. She knew Mustang wouldn’t mind her speaking for them both. He’d probably bring the whole team in if they needed to. </p>
<p>Trisha gave her a watery smile before shooing the boys outside to escape the disturbing smells of the shack. Riza couldn’t help thinking Trisha needed a break from having to put on a brave face for her sons. Riza wasn’t around the boys as often, but even she had grown weary from constantly monitoring what she said around them. She wasn’t used to censoring herself all the time. Even when the boys were out of the room, their sharp hearing could eavesdrop.</p>
<p>“We’ll stay within hearing range,” Mustang promised, following the boys out the door.</p>
<p>Riza and Trisha went to work, finding some soap and buckets to cleanse what they could. There was an old dusty bed, but Riza was positive no one would be caught dead sleeping on it. They would just make do with the floor.</p>
<p>While they got to scrubbing, Trisha working twice as fast as Riza, she found herself burning with questions.</p>
<p>“So how old is Hohenheim then? He has to be at least…” She tried to remember her history lessons about the fall of Xerxes, but the dates were muddled.</p>
<p>“He’s not really sure. Over four hundred, at least,” Trisha said.</p>
<p>His eccentricities were beginning to make sense. How many lives had he lived? Riza felt unbearably sad at the thought. She was quite content with the one life she had. She couldn’t imagine how many people he had grieved for.</p>
<p>“I’m incredibly curious how you two came to be married,” Riza confessed. Talk about a May-December romance.</p>
<p>Trisha gave a secretive smile. “The traditional way people fall in love, mostly. It was love at first sight for me. And for him…I suppose love at first bite.” Her eyes sparkled.</p>
<p>“So you knew he was a vampire from the beginning?”</p>
<p>“Yes. It was kind of a whirlwind courtship. We were married after knowing each other less than a year.”</p>
<p>“Why such a whirlwind?”</p>
<p>“I suppose that was Van’s doing. He understands better than most how short life can be. Until I got sick, he planned to age himself beside me until I died. We weren’t sure if he would try to change me or not. He’d lived a long life, and I was ambivalent about immortality for myself.”</p>
<p>“You ended up a vampire anyway.” How very sad it would have been for Hohenheim if his wife had died prematurely. Hundreds of years and finally settling down…only to lose them…</p>
<p>“I’m very grateful for that. Humans and vampires can’t have children together, as you know, and I so badly wanted children. It was my only regret when I married Van. I thought we’d be childless,” Trisha scrubbed a suspicious stain so hard the wood beneath it cracked loudly.</p>
<p>Riza frowned at the broken floorboard. “We should just have Mustang burn this place down.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roy had been tuning out the conversation between Hawkeye and Trisha in favor of listening to possible intruders as the boys climbed every tree they could find. They had spooked several sleeping squirrels and dozens of birds already. While Roy remembered having a lot of energy as a boy, these two seemed to have more than twice that. He was weary just watching them play.</p>
<p>When he heard Hawkeye mention his name, his attention was drawn to the women in the shack.</p>
<p>“The boys would love that,” Trisha said. “They want to see the flame alchemist in action.”</p>
<p>“They are so clever, I wonder if they won’t work it out themselves,” Hawkeye said.</p>
<p>“They take after their father that way. I wonder if it’s all his blood I drank during pregnancy,” Trisha mused.</p>
<p>Roy watched Ed leap from one tree to the other, twenty feet in the air. He followed after them as they circled around the shack, Al shadowing his brother through the trees. Roy remained distracted. Like Hawkeye, he was incredibly curious about how the boys had come to exist.</p>
<p>“And how…how did you become pregnant? If you don’t mind my asking,” Hawkeye asked, her voice hesitant and polite.</p>
<p>“What do you know about blood bonds?” Trisha asked.</p>
<p>“Umm…very little.”</p>
<p>Roy almost stopped in his tracks as Trisha explained. “For us, it began when I was human. At first, he just fed from me occasionally. Then to maintain my health and blood supply, he started giving me his blood. When I became a vampire, it began a circle of blood sharing until it seemed I had as much of his blood in me as my own, and vice versa. And…I wanted a baby. Badly. And I guess, just like a vampire can will themselves to age, well, I realized my fertility had returned. I hadn’t had a period since I became a vampire.”</p>
<p>Roy felt his cheeks warm, and thought about walking farther away, but he’d promised to stay nearby, and the boys’ hearing didn’t seem to be as far-reaching as his own. They were absorbed in their game, regardless.</p>
<p>“The rest was done…the usual way,” Trisha laughed. “But during the pregnancy, I had to drink a lot of his blood. I craved it more than I ever had before—no blood but his would do. And I was very clingy.” Trisha seemed lost in happy memories as it grew quiet for several moments. “And with those two boys, I’m perfectly happy, and my fertility seems to have gone dormant again.”</p>
<p>“That’s convenient,” Hawkeye said.</p>
<p>“Yes, for most vampires manipulating the body takes concentration, but for me it was instinctive.”</p>
<p>Instinctive. The word shook through Roy along with a painful epiphany. He replayed Trisha’s story. Love at first bite. Sharing each other’s blood. Hadn’t he always wondered why no one’s blood tasted as good as Hawkeye’s? He’d attributed it to being his first taste of blood as a vampire, but that didn’t explain the animalistic urge to drink from her and have her drink from him. Those urges only grew stronger the more he tasted her.</p>
<p>He had no idea how dangerous his desires could be. A blood bond was for vampire lovers. Not Roy and his human assistant. Bonded vampires were rare, and creating and maintaining the bond took effort. All the same, he would need to be more careful in the future with taking blood from her.</p>
<p>“And you got two wonderful boys out of it,” Hawkeye continued.</p>
<p>“They are wonderful, aren’t they?” Trisha gushed.</p>
<p>“I adore them.”</p>
<p>Roy was so caught up in his internal distress that he almost missed the vampire lurking in the trees. A familiar vampire at that. The greasy-haired flunky of Selim’s he’d seen skulking around Central a few times.</p>
<p>Roy didn’t hesitate, not even warning the boys before he snapped. The black night was lit with a wall of flames, the wall erected in place between the boys and the enemy vampire.</p>
<p>Within seconds, a gunshot rang through the air. And the vampire was hit in the head. Roy smiled darkly at Hawkeye’s perfect aim before he incinerated the body, angry that two young boys had been endangered again.</p>
<p>He turned to find them frozen up in the treetops, gaping at Roy. He hoped he hadn’t frightened them too much—</p>
<p>“That was crazy!” Ed said, completely stunned.</p>
<p>“Wild,” Al whispered.</p>
<p>Maybe they were more resilient than Roy gave them credit for.</p>
<p>Trisha appeared, lips thin with worry.</p>
<p>“What is going—” but she couldn’t finish her question before more shots rang out, followed by masculine cries of pain.</p>
<p>“Incoming!” Hawkeye shouted from a distance.</p>
<p>“Stay together, keep behind me,” Roy said. The boys jumped from the trees, joining their mother.</p>
<p>Roy tried not to panic when he couldn’t find Hawkeye. He pinned her location with his blood still pumping through her system, and he guessed she had never left the protection of the shack.</p>
<p>A single shot echoed through the trees, followed by a gasp and the thud of someone being slammed to the ground. The sounds of a struggle made it difficult for Roy to hold his position, but his goal was to protect the Elrics, not Hawkeye.</p>
<p>Trisha must’ve been thinking the same because she patted Roy’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“Boys, stay with Roy,” she instructed. She rushed off before Roy or her sons could protest. Roy cursed under his breath.</p>
<p>A savage growl caused the hair on the back of Roy’s neck to stand up. It was Trisha. The sounds of tearing flesh filled the quiet wood around them. It didn’t smell like Trisha’s blood, but as he was scenting the air, the fragrant perfume of Hawkeye’s blood reached him. He had to imagine his legs were buried in cement to keep himself from running toward her in a rage. Instead, he gestured for the boys to be quiet and follow him. Silently they tracked through the trees, making their way to the other side of the shack.</p>
<p>“Ah, there you are,” a cheerful voice greeted. Another one of Selim’s favorites. His sire must be desperate if he was sending out his best lackeys. This one always wore a headband and strutted around Central feeding indiscriminately—sometimes draining humans dry just for fun.</p>
<p>He was holding Trisha in a tight chokehold, her mouth dripping in blood that wasn’t hers. Two muscular humans stood beside them, clearly not compelled. One held Hawkeye with a knife to her throat. She looked furious.</p>
<p>Stepping out of the trees, Roy hissed for the brothers to remain right behind him.</p>
<p>“I don’t think you’re a very intelligent vampire,” Roy said, projecting a calmness he didn’t feel. But the confidence was real.</p>
<p>“What? You don’t want to trade? Not even one boy for these two women?” the cocky vampire sneered. “We only need one.”</p>
<p>Trisha thrashed in his arms while Hawkeye remained still, patient.</p>
<p>“And you think you have room to negotiate with me?” Roy asked. He wanted to boil the vampire’s eyeballs.</p>
<p>Roy considered every possible direction this encounter could go. The vampire was the more dangerous target, but Hawkeye was the more fragile hostage. And Roy could never sacrifice one woman in favor of the other. </p>
<p>Then Edward stepped forward. “Fine. I’ll go with you. Just don’t hurt anyone,” he said, surprising everyone.</p>
<p>“Brother!” Al whimpered, grabbing Ed’s arm. “Let me go instead.”</p>
<p>“No, I’m going. Then I’ll kick that bastard grandpa sire’s ass,” Ed said.</p>
<p>And then Roy saw it, in the confusion of the boys’ argument, Hawkeye reached under her jacket where she kept another gun holstered. Her eye twitched to the vampire holding Trisha.</p>
<p>The rest happened almost in unison. A snap. A crackle of gunfire. Hawkeye shot the man holding her and flung herself out of his grip while Roy sizzled the vampire from the inside out—to prevent Trisha from being caught in the flames with him. The vampire didn’t even have a moment to scream. Hawkeye whirled on the second human, holding him at gunpoint before Ed and Al tackled him to the ground.</p>
<p>Trisha coughed, rubbing her neck, but otherwise seemed fine. The boys ran to her. She fawned over them for being so foolishly brave, and he dimly overheard her tell them to head inside as Roy set to work compelling the men to stay silent and gave the injured one his blood, although Roy thought he deserved to heal slowly and painfully.</p>
<p>“There were two others,” Hawkeye said. “The first is around the corner, and Trisha got the other just over there,” she said, nodding to a headless vampire corpse beneath a tree.</p>
<p>“They’re increasing their numbers,” Roy said.</p>
<p>“And not using compelled humans for backup anymore,” Hawkeye said. “I think it’s obvious now how they keep finding us.” </p>
<p>“Barry?” Roy asked optimistically, but he knew it wasn’t what she was thinking. And Roy’s gut knew it too.</p>
<p>“We know I haven’t been compelled,” she said. “Someone must have spiked one of my drinks with vampire blood.”</p>
<p>“Who?” he asked. Barry would be easier to blame.</p>
<p>“Anyone in Central. A compelled human. It could have been at the Rockbells, on the train—anywhere. I could even be dosed with multiple vampires’ blood. It doesn’t take much to be able to trace a human.” She sighed, defeated. “It’s impossible to know how, but we can’t ignore that it has happened.”</p>
<p>He couldn’t argue with her when he knew she was right.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m so sorry,” Riza apologized to the Elrics, after the humans had been interrogated and sent on a slow walk to the nearest town. “I’ve put you all in danger.”</p>
<p>“No, Riza,” Trisha said, taking Riza’s hand. “I’m the one who is sorry. My husband’s sire did this. You’ve done nothing but protect us.”</p>
<p>Riza couldn’t agree, but she didn’t want to belittle Trisha’s apology. Riza should have been more circumspect with her drinks.</p>
<p>“The best I can do now is take the first train out and get as much distance between us as possible,” Riza said.</p>
<p>“Out of the question!” Mustang barked. “They’re still tracing you.”</p>
<p>Riza stood straighter. “I’ll regroup with the team in Central as soon as I can,” she said, hoping to appease her superior.</p>
<p>“Better idea, you stay with us until we get to Central, then we separate when you have protection,” he said through his teeth.</p>
<p>“We might not make it to Central at all if we do that,” she said. “They attack at night, during the day—whenever. We got lucky tonight that they didn’t have time to compel me. I could’ve killed you!” Again. Didn’t he know what that would do to her?</p>
<p>Mustang maybe didn’t know explicitly how much she feared hurting him again, but he knew it was why she had become so rigid about his safety. She feared nothing more than being compelled to hurt the ones she loved. She’d rather die.</p>
<p>“Not to interrupt,” Trisha said gingerly, “but I agree with Roy. We couldn’t possibly live with the guilt if something happened to you on our behalf.” She paused and pointed accusingly at Mustang. “Don’t look so smug yet. I also agree with Riza. My sons’ safety is important. It’s why I think it would be best if I leave with Riza. We can meet you in Central. Then she has at least one vampire with her, and my boys are safe with the Flame Alchemist.”</p>
<p>Riza didn’t like it. Mustang didn’t like it. The brothers didn’t like it. But compromises rarely made everyone happy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>With sunrise pressing down on them, they had no choice but to hunker down in the “Chopping Shack,” as Ed called it.</p>
<p>They all slept in the same room for added safety. The boys slept on either side of their mother, the only two sleeping somewhat peacefully, Riza noted. Trisha slept fitfully, awakened by the quietest noises. Riza barely slept at all, the adrenaline of the fight still coursing through her. </p>
<p>She would generally say she held her own on her assignments with Mustang. She was capable and used her advantages in the sun as much as she could. But what was supposed to be an overly cautious bodyguard job had turned into an all-out war. A human was nothing but a burden with just the two of them on the assignment.</p>
<p>She didn’t want to be a liability to Mustang. Her eyes drifted to him. He was sitting against the wall by the door, dozing off occasionally, but trying to keep watch all the same. He’d refused her offer to take the watch. His clothes were askew, his hair was an even wilder mess than usual, and the scruff on his face was longer than she had ever seen it.</p>
<p>He still looked insanely handsome.</p>
<p>Riza was glad there wasn’t a mirror, because she probably looked like hell.</p>
<p>She rolled over onto her side, putting her back to Mustang, when he whispered to her. </p>
<p>“Hawkeye?”</p>
<p>“Yes?” she whispered back just as quietly. </p>
<p>“Maybe you should drink some of my blood again. And maybe Trisha’s too—before you go.”</p>
<p>“Haven’t I had enough of yours?” she asked. He would be able to track her for several weeks—probably longer with how much she’d had. Although remembering its heady taste made her stomach flutter with interest. Then she remembered what Trisha had said about blood bonding. Was it strange for them to be sharing so much blood with one another?</p>
<p>“Just to be doubly safe,” he said. “And you must have cut yourself again because—” He stopped and inhaled, and she saw his fangs glistening.</p>
<p>She shivered.</p>
<p>It was a bad idea, but she couldn’t tell him no. Maybe his feelings didn’t run as deep as hers. It didn’t matter. She would have to leave him at sunset, and if she could take even more of his blood with her for the journey, she would.</p>
<p>Trying not to wake the others, she crawled over to Mustang on her hands and knees, her eyes locked with his. A charge flared to life between them, her blood singing for him almost as much as his called to her. Her mouth watered.</p>
<p>Knowing things couldn’t go too far with the Elrics right there made her confident. Mustang grazed his fangs across his wrist and held it to her lips. She was immediately overwhelmed with its taste. Then she did something different—feeling bold. She tilted her neck toward him, leaning against his chest with his arm between them so he could feed from her neck simultaneously.</p>
<p>She heard the faintest rumble as he held her close and stabbed his fangs into her neck. It felt so good, all of it. His taste, his mouth, the flick of his tongue against her neck, his free hand squeezing her hip. </p>
<p>Her consciousness grew dreamy then. A protective, worshipful yearning seeped into her soul. There was also a strange thirst. And languid desire.</p>
<p>None of those feelings were her own.</p>
<p>They jerked away from one another at the same time, Riza unable to look him in the eye. She was reeling from the intensity of it just as much as she wanted more. It was only the fear of what Mustang could feel from her that held her back. Or what he might have already picked up on. She couldn’t bear it if he had to turn her down gently, like a schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher.</p>
<p>“Is it time to get up yet?” Al’s sweet voice asked through a yawn.</p>
<p>Riza jumped back even farther from Mustang, hating that she was blushing.</p>
<p>“Not yet,” Trisha said. “Go back to sleep.”</p>
<p>Riza stood and tiptoed back to her place on the floor, legs wobbly. She didn’t dare look at Mustang again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Be good for Roy. He’ll tell me how you behave without me,” Trisha said, dropping a kiss to the top of both boys’ heads.</p>
<p>“We will,” they agreed sullenly.</p>
<p>The frustration of being a burdensome human reasserted its presence. But Riza was a soldier, so she kept her face neutral, even as her mind summoned a memory of her own mother. She’d been holding Riza’s hand as they walked, chatting happily, when the vampire had slammed into her mother. The momentum was so powerful that Riza’s shoulder had been dislocated, and she’d fallen to the ground. It was hours later, after the military police had dropped by the house as they collected the many bodies the vampire had left behind, that the adrenaline faded and Riza noticed the pain.</p>
<p>Until that point in her life, her father had always coddled and spoiled her. That night, he seemed to forget she existed. She sat up in bed for hours, waiting to be tucked in by him and her mother. She was never tucked into bed again.</p>
<p>Mustang nudged her.</p>
<p>“It’s only until we make it to Central. If we get there without delay, we should all be reunited tomorrow,” he said.</p>
<p>“I hope so.” Her gut told her it would be longer. Mustang looked apprehensive, so he probably secretly agreed. “How do you think you will handle being Uncle Roy all on your own?” she asked, hoping to lighten the mood.</p>
<p>He snorted. “I’m going to keep an extra close watch on my ignition gloves, that’s for sure.”</p>
<p>Riza’s lips twitched as Edward turned to stick out his tongue at Mustang. How she wished to be a fly on the wall to observe how Mustang handled babysitting. She had never seen him around children before.</p>
<p>“We better get going,” Riza said. “We need to get as far from the boys as we can.” Her heart constricted with guilt.</p>
<p>She was touched when Al and Ed each gave her a brief hug goodbye. Mustang gave a restrained goodbye of his own—without so much as a handshake. Then Riza hopped onto Trisha’s back, again feeling like a hindrance, but it was just until they made it to the road where they hoped to hitch a ride. Trisha felt thin and misleadingly fragile as Riza tried to find a comfortable position, unlike Mustang who she had molded against with ease.</p>
<p>As they rushed through the trees away from the shack, Riza tried not to think about how lost she felt leaving Mustang behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Riza and Trisha walked on the side of the road at a leisurely human pace in the moonlight. A few cars had gone by without stopping, and Riza had made an effort to look less intimidating by removing her jacket and fluffing her hair around her shoulders. </p>
<p>“I hope Roy is having an easier time of it than we are,” Trisha said. </p>
<p>“He probably is.” Now that Riza wasn’t summoning vampires to their location. The reminder of the beacon she had become sent a shiver down her spine. She wondered if this was what a fox felt like as bloodhounds tracked it. Her fear only grew as she watched Trisha chew on her lip nervously, eyes darting around the darkness.</p>
<p>“Maybe you should run ahead,” Riza suggested. “Scout out a car.”</p>
<p>Trisha gave her a withering stare. “You seem all too eager to martyr yourself on my behalf, but I won’t allow it.”</p>
<p>“I’m being practical. If things get bad, and I tell you to run, please—please—run. It’s very possible we could both die, and what would be the point of that?”</p>
<p>Trisha was quiet, gathering up an argument, Riza suspected.</p>
<p>“I can’t do it. Not if there’s a chance I can help you.”</p>
<p>“Trisha,” Riza said sternly. “I was a soldier. I’ve killed more people than I can count. I was trained in the militia to quickly calculate what to do in a skirmish. If I’m telling you to run, I promise, it won’t be something I say lightly. I don’t want to die. I don’t…I don’t really want to be a vampire either,” she admitted. She loved watching the sun rise and set. She loved spreading out on a blanket and soaking in the sun while she read a book. And beyond that, the fear of living as long as Hohenheim terrified her. To outlive all her human friends would be unbearable.</p>
<p>“So you’d have me run off like a coward?”</p>
<p>“Not a coward. Like someone who has a family who needs you.”</p>
<p>“Doesn’t Roy need you?”</p>
<p>“Not like Edward and Alphonse need you.” Riza glanced out into the night, her paranoia growing. “I know what it’s like to grow up without a mother. My mother was killed by a vampire with blood rage. And while my father did his best, it wasn’t the same. He fell apart without her. She was the love of his life.” She wanted to force Trisha to think of what she would be taking away from her family if she died: a mother, a wife, the backbone of the family.</p>
<p>Trisha pursed her lips and looked up at the stars. “And aren’t you the love of Roy’s life?”</p>
<p>Maybe Mustangs was Riza’s, but he was a passionate man, easily caught up in the moment. He could move on. She was more steadfast, unchanging. His feelings were a flash fire, ignited and extinguished almost as quickly as it began. Hers were the embers burning long after the flames died out. She’d seen evidence of this with his many girlfriends over the past two years. Riza’s own dating experience had been sparse in comparison.</p>
<p>“No,” she said. “And even if I was, we don’t have children together. It’s different.” Riza knew she was right, but perhaps it was easier for her, as a former soldier, to rationalize who should live or die—who should take the risk or play it safe.</p>
<p>“I’m not going to leave you on your own, and that’s that.”</p>
<p>They were at an impasse, and fortunately at that moment a car’s lights appeared at the top of the hill, heading toward them. It stopped almost as soon as the two women came into view, and when the man’s eyes lingered too long on her chest, Trisha gave him a look. His eyes went vacant, body relaxed.</p>
<p>“We’re going to borrow your car,” Trisha told him politely. “We’ll return it to you as soon as we can.” The man cheerfully stepped out of his car, even shutting the door for her as she took the driver’s seat. Riza went around to the passenger’s side, unholstering her rifle. As soon as she sat, Trisha floored it, leaving the perverted driver in the dust.</p>
<p>“How’s the gas?” Riza asked, leaning to see for herself even as she spoke.</p>
<p>“Not much.” They wouldn’t make it to Central without stopping for gas, which would give more time for Selim’s people to catch up with her. Riza wouldn’t feel safe until she was with Mustang again.</p>
<p>“There should be a fork in the road eventually,” Riza said, pulling out a map from their bag. “It would probably be best if we go the more indirect route. We can throw them off, and there’s a small town in that direction. We can get gas there, too.”</p>
<p>Trisha agreed with the plan, and Riza felt minimally better now that they were speeding down the road. It would only be a few more hours until they reached Central. They might have to stop at a closer safe house than the one Mustang and the boys were going to, but they could reconvene the next night.</p>
<p>Trisha was tense as she drove, her knuckles white as they gripped the steering wheel, but she drove smoothly. The countryside flew by in a blur of darkness and shadows from the moon.</p>
<p>The fork in the road came just past a long curve that edged the side of a steep hill, so the roadblock ahead surprised even Trisha. She slammed on the brake, jolting Riza forward.</p>
<p>“Winry!” Trisha gasped, bringing the car to a complete stop.</p>
<p>She was right. There in the headlights stood Winry, ominously motionless. Her blue dress was wrinkled but clean, and even her ponytail remained tidy. She seemed unharmed.</p>
<p>Except Solf Kimblee’s hand rested threateningly on her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Damn Kimblee,” Riza said, adjusting her rifle.</p>
<p>“You know him?”</p>
<p>“He defected from the militia after he became a vampire.” And tried to intimidate her when she’d gone to meet Raven about Selim’s whereabouts. She’d wanted to blow his head off, and apparently she should have. Kimblee’s allegiance was always in question, and tonight it was not in Riza’s favor. Beside him were five well-armed humans. And Winry was the perfect little hostage. Kimblee could snap her neck so easily. If Ed and Al were here…</p>
<p>“He’s also an alchemist,” Riza said. She didn’t need to say aloud that they were immensely outclassed.</p>
<p>“We just want to make a trade,” Kimblee called out.</p>
<p>“It’s different now,” Riza whispered. “We do whatever we can to get her home to her parents. Agreed?”</p>
<p>Trisha nodded, and her expression twisted into the same fury Riza had seen her use when she had decapitated the vampire outside Barry’s shack. Riza swallowed back the same fury, knowing she needed to keep a cool head—to find that same state of numbness that helped her strike down her oldest friend.</p>
<p>They stepped out of the car, approaching Kimblee slowly.</p>
<p>“Hohenheim’s sons aren’t with us, as you can see, so what do you want?” Riza asked bluntly, keeping her rifle limp at her side. The five men with Kimblee had enough guns aimed at her, she didn’t have a chance if this went badly.</p>
<p>He sniffed the air. “Hawkeye, you positively reek of the Flame Alchemist.”</p>
<p>“What are you doing kidnapping little girls?” she countered.</p>
<p>“I’m on a hunt for the secret to immortality,” Kimblee said breezily. His eyes focused cruelly on Trisha. Angry tears fell down her cheeks. “Will you be more forthcoming than your husband?”</p>
<p>“My husband has already told his sire the truth, over and over. There is no universal guarantee to become a vampire”</p>
<p>Kimblee wound a finger around a lock of Winry’s hair. “But he has another theory, doesn’t he? Selim wouldn’t tell me that part.” He tugged on her ponytail just enough to force Winry’s neck to be exposed. “I want to know what that theory is.”</p>
<p>Trisha’s hands trembled. “I’m not sure I’m the best one to explain.”</p>
<p>“Does it require an alchemist?” Kimblee asked.</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>“Then explain. Now. Or I take this girl to Selim.” And then his gaze slid away from Trisha, and Riza felt the moment it landed on her. Every last trace of anger and fear melted away in an instant, and her fingers almost dropped her rifle, she was so relaxed. Faintly, she was aware that he was compelling her, but it felt like a dream. </p>
<p>Then her focus was back as she was filled with an urgency to point her gun at Winry. Steady. Don’t pull the trigger. Not yet.</p>
<p>“Stop it!” Trisha snarled, taking a step forward.</p>
<p>“Hold it, Mrs. Hohenheim. That’s the best shot in Amestris.”</p>
<p>“You didn’t even give me a chance to explain. It’s not like his theory’s a secret. It’s just difficult to prove.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p>“Can’t you have her put the gun down first?” Trisha asked, her voice desperate. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”</p>
<p>Before Kimblee could reply, a shot was fired.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s so crowded here,” Edward said, looking at Central with wide eyes. “So many buildings.”</p>
<p>“Aww, look! She seems lonely,” Al said, suddenly holding an orange and white cat in his arms. The cat struggled for freedom, clearly displeased with his new benefactor.</p>
<p>Roy was baffled as to where it had come from. </p>
<p>“Put it back,” he said. “We’re trying not to call attention to ourselves.”</p>
<p>“But she needs a home!” Al said, squeezing the wriggling cat.</p>
<p>“Then we’ll come back for it later.”</p>
<p>If only it had been as simple to get rid of the cat as the rest of the trip. They had made brilliant time. The boys kept up well with him until they reached the city, and then had slowed to a human pace. And with that pace, they had also become incredibly distracted.</p>
<p>Of course, Roy was also distracted. He had no right to judge.</p>
<p>Ever since he and Hawkeye had shared blood, he had been catching waves of emotions that weren’t his own. It had been overwhelmingly strong when his fangs had been buried inside her, but it remained at a more muted level even after they parted. He’d felt her fear and desire, her worry over the family, her exhaustion…the precious devotion whenever she looked at him.</p>
<p>Roy had taken the cowardly way out and not told her he was privy to her most intimate feelings. Clearly she felt something while drinking from him, but as a human, that vanished when she pulled away from him.</p>
<p>And now, separated by miles and miles, he could still feel Hawkeye’s hunger and exhaustion. She was more tired than she acted. Always silently suffering.</p>
<p>“There, it’s right outside a fish market. It will live a life of pure happiness,” Roy assured Alphonse.</p>
<p>“Yes, cats love fish,” Ed enthused, also ready to be done with the cat detour. Roy was prepared for Al to give a lengthy goodbye to the cat, but the cat darted away, putting Roy and Ed out of their misery.</p>
<p>It was lucky that the fish market was on the way to their destination. They continued with a leisurely stroll, Roy watchful for anyone following them.</p>
<p>“So where are we going?” Ed asked, kicking a tiny rock back and forth with his brother.</p>
<p>“It’s my aunt’s place. There are enough vampires I trust there at any given time that it should be safer than anywhere else in Central. And with some luck, we can reach your father and he will be able to meet us tonight.”</p>
<p>“Your aunt’s place has lots of vampires? Is she a vampire too?” Ed asked.</p>
<p>Roy tugged at his collar. “No, it’s more of a…bar for vampires.” He was not going to explain the shadier sides of the business. </p>
<p>“We’ve never been to a bar,” Al said, perking up.</p>
<p>“Can I try some wine?” Ed asked.</p>
<p>“Definitely not.”</p>
<p>The boys peppered him with questions until they finally arrived. Roy took them in through the back, hoping to keep a low profile. He led them down the hall to Chris’s private kitchen.</p>
<p>“Vanessa?” Roy asked quietly, knowing she would hear him. “Send my aunt to the kitchen for me?”</p>
<p>A moment later Vanessa appeared, dressed impeccably and making the three of them look even more dirty than before.</p>
<p>“Chris is on the way, but I heard children?” Vanessa smiled brilliantly, but her eyes were crinkled in concern. The last child to step foot in his aunt’s establishment had been Roy himself.</p>
<p>“Yes, this is Edward and Alphonse,” Roy said, avoiding last names. He had told the boys to act as human as possible, as had their mother. He hoped they listened.</p>
<p>“You boys hungry?” Vanessa asked. Those were the magic words. They were wrapped around her finger already.</p>
<p>Chris arrived later, her eyes full of questions when she saw the Elrics stuffing sandwiches into their faces. She yanked Roy into the hallway before he could get a word in.</p>
<p>“Where’s Elizabeth?” she asked, her voice the lowest whisper.</p>
<p>“She’s still busy,” he said, keeping his voice casual. “She’s supposed to meet me later for a date.”</p>
<p>“I’m worried about her. I may have given her an expired drink, last time I saw her. I can get so forgetful about those things.”</p>
<p>Roy felt like he’d been punched in the gut as he worked out her meaning. How many steps ahead had Selim been? He knew Hawkeye would come here.</p>
<p>“Yes, she was feeling very sick the past few days,” he said.</p>
<p>“And it may have been…a mixed drink,” Chris continued. More than one vampire’s blood. “I hope it didn’t cause her much trouble.”</p>
<p>Roy didn’t want to tell her the truth, but his aunt could likely read into it herself. He was dirty and unkempt with two boys in tow. The assignment had gone to shit.</p>
<p>He concentrated and reached for Hawkeye, the connection so strong he could almost feel her blood pumping through her heart, or was it his? </p>
<p>“She’s—” fine, he almost said, but then a rush of anger and determination that wasn’t his own slammed into him. And fear.</p>
<p>“You don’t look well,” Chris said. “Do you and the boys want a room for the day?”</p>
<p>“Yes, thank you,” he said. “But I need to use your phone right away.” He knew he sounded distracted, but it couldn’t be helped. He went around the corner to the phone, his mind only half present as he made plans to call his team in for backup, then going through the round of phone numbers Trisha had written down for him.</p>
<p>Roy reminded himself he had been entrusted with the lives of the Elric brothers by both parents, and that came first. He could do nothing for Hawkeye now.</p>
<p>Still, he halted in the shadows, falling against the wall as the connection to Hawkeye went blank. No—he was wrong. It was her emotions that were eerily vacant. He could still feel that vague, strange sensation of her heart beating.</p>
<p>Someone was compelling her—to do what, he could only guess. She’d been afraid shortly beforehand. His resilient Hawkeye, afraid. He wanted to reach through their connection to burn whoever had compelled her.</p>
<p>And then he had a thought, as he gripped onto that powerful thing that had been growing between them with every taste of blood. He’d always likened compulsion to manipulating the laws of alchemy. One is all, all is one. Vampires understood the potent properties of blood better than anyone, and if Roy could just take control of the bond to Hawkeye, he could maybe—if he focused—</p>
<p>He held his breath, hoping it was enough.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it was the best place to cut it! This chapter was the most challenging yet, so let me know what you think! I may end up having to add an epilogue on, but the main story line should be concluded in the next chapter.</p>
<p>And I try to update my tumblr, but I'm new at it. Follow me at poppy-pelican if you'd like. I also update there, and I'm hoping to put up some drabbles once this fic is done.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some mild warnings: allusion to miscarriage (very brief) in backstory. More gore and violence than previous chapters. Gratuitous blood drinking. Like, seriously, I really got into the Halloween spirit and went all in. I really, really, wanted to get this posted before Halloween, but the edits on this were a pain in the ass and I just wanted to be DONE, so here it is. ENJOY!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The gunshot was followed by pain ripping through Riza’s right arm. Her body seized and dropped the rifle. More rapid fire boomed around them, and she kept trying to stand and follow the urgent orders—hold the gun at Winry. Keep the target in sight. Don’t let up. But the agony in her arm kept her from lifting the rifle again, fingers too weak to grip it.</p>
<p>A vile voice demanded she find a smaller gun and redirected her. Aim for Trisha. Trisha was wrestling with Kimblee, blood drenching both of them as Winry stood silently beside them.</p>
<p>Riza reached for the pistol strapped to her side, helpless to do anything but follow the compulsion. The gun was warm from the summer night and being pressed against her body. She had to use her left arm because the right was useless.</p>
<p>The gun felt heavier than usual.</p>
<p>Shoot, the vile voice insisted.</p>
<p>And then with a snap her mind returned to reality, a soothing sensation pulsing through her body. It felt like…Roy. Her muscles unlocked, once again following her commands. The agony in her arm was dulled by the instant adrenaline that crashed over her.</p>
<p>She adjusted her aim and pulled the trigger. Finally, she made good on her threat to blow Kimblee’s head off.</p>
<p>The answer to who had shot her came a moment later as Jean Havoc and Maes Hughes rushed from the trees, armed and furious until they saw Winry stumbling back in alarm, eyes welling with tears.</p>
<p>“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Riza said, dropping her weapons and hurrying to the girl. “They’re friends of mine.” She had no idea how they were here at the right time, and she didn’t care. Her knees nearly buckled with relief.</p>
<p>Winry trembled uncontrollably with the same excess adrenaline that Riza was experiencing. She looked to Trisha, who knew the girl better, but Trisha was covered in blood and brain matter, and hunched over in pain on the ground. Hughes went to her side and offered his blood. The humans who had been with Kimblee had been taken out by Havoc and Hughes, and with the state of the group, triage would be necessary before they could move on. </p>
<p>“Is it really over?” Winry asked, sniffling.</p>
<p>“Yes. Kimblee’s compulsion over us broke when he died.” Though Riza wasn’t sure if that was exactly right. Kimblee was still very much alive when Riza regained control of herself. </p>
<p>“Are Ed and Al all right?” More sniffling. “I thought you were with them.”</p>
<p>“They’re with Mustang now. No one could be safer,” Riza said. She rubbed Winry’s shoulders with her good arm, feeling helpless. Were the rest of the Rockbells all right? How had this happened? How long had she been with Kimblee?</p>
<p>Havoc held out his wrist to Riza, trickling with blood. She scrunched her face in distaste. Now that she’d gotten used to Mustang’s, it felt wrong to drink from another vampire, but her arm was also throbbing and would only get worse.</p>
<p>“I’d put it in a cup for you if I had one. I know you don’t like drinking blood.”</p>
<p>“No, no, it’s fine.” She paused as she took his wrist. “How’d you two find us?” She braced herself and took his wrist, hoping he didn’t make too many jokes. Drinking from Havoc was very different than Mustang. She felt like an awkward kitten lapping up milk, and it left her uncomfortable and tense. Again, she wondered how it was so different when she was with Mustang. It was like a communion rather than a service.</p>
<p>“It was plain luck we were able to find you,” Havoc explained. He was looking at Winry, giving her a kind, disarming smile. Winry turned three shades of red that was visible even in the dark. “Madame Christmas called up Hughes. Said she’d given some of his blood to you.” Right. After her meeting with Kimblee and Raven. “And you know how paranoid she is—she drinks vampire blood regularly, just to make sure she hasn’t been compelled.”</p>
<p>Riza put it together quickly, letting go of his wrist. “What? Who could possibly compel her?” Chris Mustang was careful and had more vampire allies in the city than anyone.</p>
<p>“Kimblee,” Havoc growled. “What a snake. We didn’t know why he would need to track you, but it sounds like you’re currently trackable by a lot of vampires.”</p>
<p>She blanched at the reminder. “Yes, Mustang and I ran into some…difficulties,” she said, gesturing to Trisha and Winry. “We had to separate.”</p>
<p>“Good thing Madame contacted us. We thought we were being overly cautious to check on you, because you were with Mustang…” he trailed off, inhaling deeply. “And you and the boss were getting pretty cozy, huh?”</p>
<p>“There have been a lot of injuries,” she said defensively.</p>
<p>“Not judging. I just can really smell him on you. Like…” Havoc’s nostrils flared. “For a moment, I expected him to be right there with you.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he merely stepped back, turning to Winry again. “I suppose we should figure out a plan for this one. Taking her home seems out of the question.”</p>
<p>“My family is probably so worried,” Winry said. She dropped her chin, tearing up again.</p>
<p>“We’ll call them as soon as we can,” Riza said. They could also hopefully check in with Mustang and the Elric brothers.</p>
<p>Trisha finally stood, helped up by Hughes. She looked weak—and Riza felt horribly guilty. A housewife shouldn’t have to defend her bodyguard. Vampires weren’t so different than humans that they could handle rapid injuries. She needed a little more time to recover. Time that Riza wasn’t sure they had.</p>
<p>“Don’t look at me like that, I’m fine,” Trisha said, giving a small smile to Winry who went to hug her, ignoring all the blood.</p>
<p>“We have a car up the road,” Hughes said. “There was another false roadblock where we left it. We can take it back to Mustang.”</p>
<p>“I can’t go back to him like this,” Riza said. Her heart sank. “And…” She found her most gentle voice, the one she used to talk to frightened stray dogs she met. “Winry, you probably can’t go near your friends either. Do you know if Kimblee gave you any blood?”</p>
<p>Winry nodded slowly. “They gave me something weird to drink on the train. Does this mean—they wanted to use me to hurt Ed and Al?”</p>
<p>Riza wanted to slump to the ground in defeat. “It seems that way.”</p>
<p>“Well, no one is leaving anyone behind now,” Hughes said, using his most authoritative voice. “You need to fill me and Havoc in on this mess.”</p>
<p>As they piled into the stolen car, Hughes nudged Riza meaningfully. “And…sorry for shooting your arm.”</p>
<p>“I’m glad you did it, but if you want, think of it as payback for your leg,” she said, reminded of that awful night again. It has become something of a joke between them, a way of lessening the memory of grief they had temporarily succumbed to. </p>
<p>“Actually, I was going to say please don’t tell Roy. Or if you do, blame Havoc.”</p>
<p>“I heard that!” Havoc said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the end, the group decided to stay together until they reached Central where they could contact Mustang. Deciding to remain in one car, they transferred to Hughes’s smaller car, where the two women and girls were crammed into a small backseat. Trisha spent the ride to Central comforting Winry and apologizing. Winry was just as apologetic, devastated to be used against her friends. </p>
<p>Riza understood the girl’s feelings all too well. Had she not just been used to weaken Mustang? She’d never felt more pathetically human.</p>
<p>The way to Central was, for once, uneventful. As soon as they came across a phone booth, Hughes leapt out to call in to Mustang and the others. They were going to need reinforcements. Trisha also gave another shot at calling Hohenheim, but once again her calls were ominously unanswered. Riza didn’t know Hohenheim as well as Trisha, not even as well as Mustang did, but she doubted he would abandon his wife he was blood bonded too. He could track her and feel her emotions, or so the rumors said of bonded pairs.</p>
<p>“Do you think Hohenheim’s in trouble?” Riza finally asked her. It felt like an invasion of privacy to ask, but she needed facts. Havoc and Hughes listened in.</p>
<p>Trisha fiddled with her bloodstained dress. “He’s blocking me. I know he’s alive, and that’s all I can really tell. I can’t imagine what Selim has done with him. The fact that he hasn’t answered—” her words choked off. Nothing else needed to be said.</p>
<p>Hohenheim could not come to their aid.</p>
<p>“We’ll find out what happened,” Riza promised. “And get you back to your boys.”</p>
<p>Mustang was afraid to have either of the humans near the Elric brothers, and so Winry and Riza were shuffled to a safe house, which turned out to be Hughes’s apartment. His wife, Gracia, was welcoming as they were ushered inside. She kissed her husband chastely before showing Winry to her room. Riza and Hughes waited with Havoc and Trisha.</p>
<p>“You think you can escort Trisha to Madame Christmas’s?” Hughes asked Havoc.</p>
<p>“Neither of us can be tracked, so I think it should be fine,” Havoc said. Trisha readily agreed.</p>
<p>“The rest of the team is being deployed,” Hughes added. “Some of them are going to Chris’s place, so Mustang can come here.”</p>
<p>Riza’s eyebrows rose. “He’s coming here?”</p>
<p>Hughes looked amused. “You think he would take my word for it that you were all right? We had to substitute for him with three men, but with the other allies who Chris trusts, the Elrics should be safe while he drops by here.”</p>
<p>“And you and Winry are the priority now,” Trisha said, taking Riza’s hand. “You two are targets.”</p>
<p>“I don’t want to draw anyone to you and Gracia,” Riza said to Hughes. Barry had offered them shelter and had been grievously injured. Gracia was as human as Riza and Winry. She would not survive an attack from Selim’s people.</p>
<p>“She’s going to her parents’ house once she gets Winry settled,” Hughes said. “I promise, we will take every precaution. Already, Falman is watching the entrance.”</p>
<p>Riza hesitated. Hughes hadn’t seen what a disaster this assignment had been, how relentless Selim had acted. She couldn’t guess as to why he wanted the boys so badly, or how his disturbed mind worked. Riza wasn’t sure she could sleep soundly until he was dead.</p>
<p>“Are you worried we will be spread too thin?” she asked.</p>
<p>“It is a concern,” he admitted. “But we’ve reached out to some of the alchemists from the militia. Most of them are happy to take on Selim again.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trisha arrived an hour before sunset. She appeared at the entrance of the bar in a dress that smelled like she had borrowed it from Gracia. She grabbed her sons and clutched them to her tight, like she might never let them go again. Ed and Al hugged her back with equal emotion. </p>
<p>Roy felt no relief. Sure, Havoc swore Hawkeye was safe and sound at Hughes’s apartment with Winry Rockbell, but Roy needed to see her with his own eyes. Hohenheim had severely underestimated how dangerous this assignment would be. And now his most precious subordinate was being hunted by a monster.</p>
<p>“Armstrong will be here in ten minutes,” Havoc said, returning from answering the phone. Roy’s relief was temporary as Havoc then asked, “So what happened between you and Hawkeye? She smells almost as much of you as herself.” He puffed his cigarette through a barely disguised leer.</p>
<p>Roy didn’t bother to answer.</p>
<p>“I will be back at sunset,” he said. “Let me know if you hear anything.” The team was making the best of the situation. They hadn’t been this active since the uprising. Currently, the team had descended on the bar and Hughes’s apartment. They were heavily guarded, and if anyone made an attempt to compromise their safety, they would know immediately. After having only Hawkeye for backup the past few days, it felt like having an army at his fingertips.</p>
<p>And yet he still felt powerless to protect her.</p>
<p>His promise to her father weighed heavily on him like it never had before. Maybe because she’d been injured more on duty this week than her entire record with him, or maybe because he finally had solid evidence that she returned his long-buried feelings. And he wanted to do something about it—preferably once Selim had been humanely put down like the creature he was. He wanted to do right by Hawkeye. If they were to start something, he didn’t want her to have regrets that she rushed into something during a time she was vulnerable and afraid.</p>
<p>She could try to deny it, but now that she was unknowingly broadcasting her feelings to him, he knew the truth beneath her stoic façade.</p>
<p>It was exactly why he needed to spend the day with her. His instincts told him she would feel better with him nearby.</p>
<p>He made the familiar trip to Hughes’s apartment without a care for concealing his nature from the few humans he passed. The familiar awareness, a warning, that the sunrise was coming, tingled up his spine. He reached Hughes’s apartment, a basement one much like Roy’s, although a little smaller and more femininely decorated since his wife moved in.</p>
<p>There was a narrow staircase off the side of the building that led down to the front door of the apartment, and that was where Falman stood watch. He waved at Mustang.</p>
<p>“Armstrong come through?” he asked in greeting.</p>
<p>“Yes. He doesn’t know all the details, but he’s a softy for a family in trouble,” Roy said. Keeping the boys’ identity a secret had long gone out the window.</p>
<p>He excused himself and opened the door as Hughes called him inside before he could knock. Hughes sat with his gun at the ready, his eyes more piercing than usual.</p>
<p>Roy’s heart quickened as Hawkeye’s lingering scent washed over him, and he sensed her proximity down the hall.</p>
<p>Suddenly, he couldn’t wait another minute to see her, and his fangs were itching to dig into her veins again.</p>
<p>Hughes rolled his eyes. “Go on.”</p>
<p>Roy followed her scent, stopping outside the bedroom door to nervously fix his hair. He had managed a quick shower at his aunt’s, but it was windblown from his run. He smoothed it back as best he could and straightened his shirt. Why did he feel like a teenager picking up a girl for a first date? It was only Hawkeye.</p>
<p>He knocked quietly on the door, aware of Winry’s sleepy heartbeat in the other room. </p>
<p>Hawkeye answered the door in borrowed pajamas, hair wet from a shower. She put on a muted smile, but the blast of happiness he felt through the bond echoed through him so forcefully that as soon as she shut the door behind him, he couldn’t stop himself. He wrapped his arms around her waist, elated to be holding her so close, to know that she was as eager as he was.</p>
<p>She pressed closer, and she felt so much smaller than he remembered. His stubborn sniper was strong and sturdy, but she was fragile, especially in his arms. Vampires were programmed with the knowledge that humans were prey, which consequently helped them not to crush their human allies. Still, he took extra precaution as he dipped his head to meet her lips. They felt so soft. His fangs barely stayed in check as his thirst grew while her heartbeat raced so temptingly against his chest.</p>
<p>He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue, tasting the sweetness in her mouth along with the minty flavor of toothpaste. She opened for him with a breathy gasp, and a jolt of desire hummed between them. </p>
<p>How was he to handle a virgin carefully when he was influenced by her lust as well as his own? Not that they were going to have sex here. In Hughes’s apartment. With Winry across the hall.</p>
<p>Of course, none of that seemed to dampen Hawkeye’s fervor as she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Her tongue felt absolutely indecent, and he wanted this so much, for longer than he cared to admit because what a pervert he would have been to even think something sexual about her when she’d been sixteen. </p>
<p>And he should probably talk to her about this whole accidentally on purpose bond thing. He just knew she wasn’t going to be happy about it.</p>
<p>Then she moaned softly, her emotions so content and pleased, he found himself backing her toward the bed, pretending Hughes hadn’t muttered, “Really? In my bedroom I share with my wife?” Hughes pointedly turned on some music.</p>
<p>Of course, it wasn’t necessary. Roy couldn’t let it go too far. Even if Hawkeye kept dropping kisses down his neck and working her fingers under his shirt. Her explorations on his skin were somehow shy and bold at the same time. He loved it.</p>
<p>He could manage five more minutes without losing it, he told himself. He wasn’t going to allow her first time to be in someone else’s bed with limited privacy. She deserved a slow seduction where he took his time pleasing her, coaxing moans from her.</p>
<p>“Do you need to feed?” she whispered returning to his mouth for another kiss. His fangs jutted from his gums so fast he nearly pricked her lower lip.</p>
<p>He grunted. “Only if you’re offering.”</p>
<p>“It’s not entirely selfless,” she said, still keeping her voice quiet. “I…really like it. When it’s you.”</p>
<p>His self-control slipped, and he pinned her wrists above her head as he pushed her back onto the mattress, his feral side reveling at his prey yielding to him. He dug his fangs into the smooth skin, keeping his pulls shallows even as the bond sang louder at the taste, a crescendo of her arousal drowning him with each swallow.</p>
<p>He wanted that taste forever, wanted to drink while he was inside her, while she came undone around him.</p>
<p>Too soon, he had to stop, and he looked down at her dreamy amber eyes, her lips plump and perfect from kissing.</p>
<p>“Can I have some of yours now?” she asked. If he’d used just a little less finesse, he might’ve taken his whole hand off, he was so motivated to return the favor.</p>
<p>There was no reluctance like the first time, and if he thought her still disgusted by the idea, her trembling thighs around his hips would have convinced him otherwise. Fuck, he would have traded his soul for a private cabin in the middle of nowhere right then if it were possible. He was so hard, aching and desperate, but the thought of relieving himself on his own was abhorrent, like nothing would satisfy him except her body.</p>
<p>She released him with a curious expression, and he felt her confusion through the bond. Of course. It went both ways. He rolled off her, sucking in a few deep breaths to calm himself.</p>
<p>“You feel it too?” he asked.</p>
<p>“Depends. What are you feeling?” She had turned to her side, watching him.</p>
<p>“You’re confused,” he began carefully. “Tired. Happy…Aroused.” Her cheeks grew redder with every word. “And growing more embarrassed by the second. I’m sorry—I can’t really figure out how to turn it off like Trisha and Hohenheim can.”</p>
<p>Her eyes narrowed, and a flare of annoyance hit him.</p>
<p>“How long have you been able to feel them?”</p>
<p>“Just since the last time,” he said quickly. “It didn’t feel like the right time to explain, and at first I wasn’t sure what was even going on—”</p>
<p>She held up her hand to shush him. “I see.”</p>
<p>“And what did you feel…from me?”</p>
<p>Her eyes darkened and her blush returned. “Some of the same as you felt from me,” she said, dodging answering it fully. Then she brushed her hand across his cheek, and a warm, comforting thing washed over him, similar to what he’d felt from her the first time it happened.</p>
<p>Leaning forward, he kissed her gently. “You could’ve said something—basically anything, anytime, anywhere. We could’ve been doing this sooner. I thought you had some weird vampire hang-up.”</p>
<p>“You could have said something yourself,” she countered, and her sadness ached through the bond. “I can’t believe you even want me around at all after…what I did to you.”</p>
<p>That old argument again. He huffed, wondering what it would take to convince her he didn’t care.</p>
<p>“And then…you’re going to outlive me,” she said. “What kind of relationship will we have—like this?”</p>
<p>The words stung. He thought he had made his intentions perfectly clear by blood bonding with her. Did she think so little of him? Or was it something else. Hawkeye, whose mother was murdered by a vampire and raised to fear them by her father, would she want to spend her life in darkness to be with him? Should he want her to?</p>
<p>He remembered little Hawkeye playing in the garden with her dog in the summer sun, her father scolding her for not wearing a hat as her cheeks reddened from a sunburn. She loved the sun. And watching her interact with the Elric brothers, recalling her conversation with Trisha about pregnancy, did Hawkeye want children some day? As it was, he could not give them to her.</p>
<p>“Hey, stop that,” she said, saving him from his spiral. “I wasn’t saying it can’t work, just that…I want us to be on the same page. My lifespan is on a different time than yours. Do you want some human dragging you down for another half a century or more?”</p>
<p>He considered his answer carefully, knowing he had shared his thoughts with Hughes, but never Hawkeye. He suspected she wouldn’t like it.</p>
<p>“I never planned to live much past what I would have,” he said. “I always thought I’d greet the sunrise when it felt right someday.”</p>
<p>The explosion of sadness nearly took his breath away, and she was suddenly in his arms again.</p>
<p>“Please don’t,” she said. “I can’t—I don’t want to think of a world without you in it.”</p>
<p>He cupped her cheeks, holding her gaze firmly.</p>
<p>“And I feel the same about you.” He kissed her again because he wanted to—and she would let him. And just because he could, he did it again. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nothing was settled between them before Hawkeye drifted off to sleep in his arms. Roy wasn’t sure what she wanted from him—what kind of commitment. He would marry her in an instant if she wanted, but that seemed foolishly rushed. And promising to age by her side, as Hohenheim had with Trisha, seemed like a good way to jinx Hawkeye to an early grave. It also sounded just like proposing, which—wasn’t it too fast?</p>
<p>He fell asleep picturing Hawkeye wearing nothing but a sparkling diamond ring on her finger.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roy woke to the phone ringing in the other room. Hughes answered, and even at a distance, Roy could hear Trisha’s panicked voice on the other end.</p>
<p>“The boys are gone. They left me a note. I think they’re headed your way.”</p>
<p>“What?” Hughes asked.</p>
<p>“I don’t know why they would be so stupid!” she cried. And that’s when Roy realized it was still daytime. An old memory surfaced of Hohenheim explaining their shared sire’s history. Roy leapt out of bed, pure dread sizzling through him.</p>
<p>He shook Hawkeye gently awake, already tugging his boots back on. With the practice of a soldier, she was up and dressing while he finished and joined Hughes. Falman sat at the kitchen table, listening intently.</p>
<p>“Why would they come here?” Hughes asked Trisha.</p>
<p>“Winry. I didn’t want to tell them about her, but they know her so well. They could scent I’d been with her. I couldn’t lie to them.” Her voice was shaky, frightened. Roy cursed the Elric brothers. Didn’t they know how dangerous it was? All the sacrifices over the past week would mean nothing if they were harmed now. “They want to protect her.”</p>
<p>“How do they know where we are?” Roy asked. Hughes repeated the question.</p>
<p>“They didn’t say how, but I suspect they may have given Winry some of their blood—or maybe just Ed. Could you ask her?” Trisha asked, desperate. </p>
<p>Hawkeye walked into the room at that moment. “Hawkeye, can you go to Winry? Ask her if Ed or Al gave her any of their blood?” Roy asked.</p>
<p>Her eyes were wide, but she nodded and left without a word. Winry was already awake.</p>
<p>Hughes questioned Trisha while Roy listened into Riza and Winry’s conversation. Winry sounded embarrassed, but her concern for her friends outweighed her discomfort. They had their answer.</p>
<p>Hawkeye returned with Winry right behind her. Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking if he’d heard. He nodded.</p>
<p>“Where’s Breda?” she asked. They would need more of the humans on their team if they needed to go out in the sunlight.</p>
<p>Luckily, Breda had taken watch and was just outside.</p>
<p>“There’s something you all should know,” Roy said as they congregated around the kitchen table. “I didn’t think it would be important, but considering how rundown Selim’s resources are now, I’m worried it will be a problem.”</p>
<p>Winry took a cup of tea that Hughes offered her, listening like this sort of meeting was an everyday thing for an automail mechanic apprentice. Roy wanted to send her away, protect her innocence, but compared to being kidnapped by Kimblee, this was nothing. </p>
<p>“Let’s hear it then,” Hughes said. He looked grim as he leaned against the wall.</p>
<p>“Selim is not exactly a full vampire. Hohenheim explained what little he had learned back when they were on good terms—” hundreds of years ago, apparently, “—and while Selim’s parents were married, his mother had a lover. A vampire lover.”</p>
<p>Hawkeye’s confusion bloomed. “But vampires can’t reproduce with humans.”</p>
<p>“Both his parents were human,” Roy said. “But his mother was blood bonded to her lover, and while she was in the early weeks of pregnancy, she had a—” he searched for a delicate way to put it in front of Winry.</p>
<p>“Oh. Oh god,” Hawkeye said, covering her mouth in horror. She had already put the clues together.</p>
<p>“Yes. The connection between a mother and a baby, and taking into account all the vampire blood she had drank…it was a recipe for a disturbingly unique creation. The baby kept developing, but he was born seemingly human. Not long after Selim was born, his father found out about the affair, and the vampire left.” Roy couldn’t imagine it himself, but perhaps the vampire thought he was giving them a chance to be a family.</p>
<p>“But he turned you—and Hohenheim. Countless others,” Falman pointed out. </p>
<p>“And he can compel people,” Hughes said.</p>
<p>“It’s possible he can’t age himself,” Roy said. Selim was always shiftier with his weaknesses, even back when he was friendly with Hohenheim. “He’s also a poor alchemist, despite his fascination with it. The crucial thing I need you to know is that he can walk in the sunlight.”</p>
<p>The room stilled as the words came out. He hurried to bolster their confidence, reassure them. “He’s weaker in it. And he’ll still burn, he just won’t burst into flames like the rest of us.”</p>
<p>“That isn’t much of a comfort,” Hughes said.</p>
<p>“He’s still vulnerable to bullets,” Hawkeye countered, although he felt her doubt through the bond.</p>
<p>Every vampire in the room froze as sudden screams reached their ears, like a gunshot had gone off in a crowded market, except—there had been no gunshot. A moment later the humans reacted.</p>
<p>Breda burst in the door. “Boss, some kind of alchemical explosion outside.”</p>
<p>“The Elrics,” Roy muttered, furious at the helplessness sweeping over him. He couldn’t go out. Just Breda and Hawkeye. Maria Ross and Denny Brosh were on their way from the bar. They’d come along with Armstrong.</p>
<p>“I can go on the roof and try to pinpoint their location,” Hawkeye said. He noticed then she had her rifle ready.</p>
<p>“That’s a good idea. I’m only giving you ten minutes, so hurry back,” he ordered. “You’re still under protection yourself.”</p>
<p>Her lips twitched briefly before she walked out the door.</p>
<p>“I’ll keep an eye out, too,” Breda said, following her.</p>
<p>The screams grew louder. Closer. Were the Elrics running this way for help? Running to intervene? To protect?</p>
<p>“Maybe you should go back to your room,” Hughes told Winry.</p>
<p>“I want to know if Ed and Al are all right,” she said stubbornly. “I won’t be any safer back there than in here.”</p>
<p>“Well. That’s that,” Hughes said with a quick smile. “Sit tight then.”</p>
<p>The three vampires hovered near the door, all of them listening with acute concentration. They hardly breathed.</p>
<p>An agonized cry in a familiar youthful voice made every inch of Roy’s skin crawl. Edward.</p>
<p>“Brother!” Al yelled. They had come close enough to hear their conversation.</p>
<p>“I have them in sight,” Hawkeye said, her voice more muffled as she spoke in a subdued, gruff voice. “Ed’s lost his left leg at the knee. King Bradley is there. I thought he was dead—”</p>
<p>Apparently not. And still human.</p>
<p>“I can’t quite get him in my scope—he’s so fast!” Yes, for a human King Bradley was known for being almost supernaturally talented, just like Hawkeye was with her guns, Bradley was good with his sword. He must have taken the leg.</p>
<p>The crackle of alchemy was loud and constant. Roy hoped it meant the boys were putting up a worthy fight for their foolishness.</p>
<p>“Breda! Get him now!” Hawkeye yelled. Who did she want Breda to get? Why did she have to yell? No, Roy wanted to shout back. Like she wasn’t easy enough to find as it was. </p>
<p>The familiar cracks of her rifle echoed in the streets. More screams blanketed the noise.</p>
<p>“Incoming!” Breda hollered. “Stand back from the door unless you want to get fried, vamps!”</p>
<p>“Bradley’s down,” Hawkeye said, her breathing heavy—like she was running. Stay put, Roy wanted to scream. Her emotions were chaotic, almost unreadable. “Selim has Al, but I lost sight of them.”</p>
<p>“Riza!” a pitiful voice whimpered. Alphonse. He was suddenly too close. Right outside the apartment. Roy knew if he could only open the door, he would see them there.</p>
<p>Her rifle fired.</p>
<p>Breda slammed the door open, Hughes yanking Roy out of the way. As it was, his eyes watered from the indirect sunlight, but as he focused he saw the bloody mess in Breda’s arms: Edward Elric. He was unconscious, blood puddling on Hughes’s foyer.</p>
<p>“Ed!” Winry shrieked, jumping into action.</p>
<p>“Give him here,” Hughes said, taking Ed from Breda. “Go back up Hawkeye.”</p>
<p>Breda drew his gun just as Roy heard a familiar, sickening thud. His time in the militia had taught him the sound of a body being thrown around. The bond went quiet, like it had when she’d been sleeping. He could still feel her alive, heart contracting rhythmically as it should.</p>
<p>“Leave her alone!” Al cried. “Just take me with you. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>“Hmm, that’s part of it. But the sun wears me out, and that bitch shot my father. I want to drain every last drop of her blood.”</p>
<p>“I’ll kill you!” Roy screamed at the door, dimly aware that Falman had grabbed him by the arms to keep him from breaking it down to get to her.</p>
<p>Breda squeezed between Roy and the door, cracking it open for a view. “Damn it. He’s using the kid as a shield—I can’t get a good shot.”</p>
<p>“I will fry his fucking face off. Just—maybe if I look—briefly—” Roy was frantic. He could feel the bond dwindling, the life seeping from her every second. His anger erupted at the thought of her being forced to feed that sick creature, his fangs violating her. If Roy knew one thing, Selim was going to die very painfully, very soon.</p>
<p>Breda must have been equally desperate because he stepped aside. “Two o’clock position,” was all he said.</p>
<p>Roy tried to time his snap with opening the door, hoping to shield his eyes with his sleeve.</p>
<p>For just a moment, he saw sunlight again and wished he hadn’t. </p>
<p>The most precious thing to him in the world was sprawled on the street right behind a car. Al twisted hopelessly as Selim dug his small fingers into the boy’s neck and each movement made blood ooze everywhere. Selim’s other hand restrained Al’s arms behind his back, and with his size Selim was impossible to see behind Al’s larger frame except for his face. His face was latched onto Hawkeye’s neck like a leopard, tearing more than drinking, and he looked like he would drag her up a tree to finish his meal. Her wasted blood bloomed around her, painting the pavement red.</p>
<p>Roy’s vision went black as he heard Selim’s squeal of pain as Roy boiled his eyeballs in retaliation. It was the best he could do without hurting Hawkeye and Alphonse, too.</p>
<p>Falman tugged Roy back into the apartment, and Roy felt Breda brush past him, he fired his gun, but there was only the clink of the bullet hitting metal. Breda cursed and was out the door, heedless of Falman calling him back. His gun fired repeatedly.</p>
<p>“She needs me—let me go—” Roy rambled, trying to wrestle himself from Falman’s surprisingly strong grip.</p>
<p>“She wouldn’t want that,” and this time it was Hughes’s voice, quiet and sad. “She could still come back.”</p>
<p>“She’s not gone!” Roy tried to shout, but the words were broken as he collapsed to the ground, inhaling the crispy scent of his own burnt skin. He wanted to step into the summer sun and burn to ash. Because Riza’s end of the bond between them had blinked and gone silent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Breda didn’t come back.</p>
<p>Roy let Falman shove him into a chair and give him blood, numbly drinking while he waited for his eyes to recover. The agony of his burns couldn’t distract him from his grief. All he could see was Hawkeye’s pale hair sprawled messily around her, unable to even flinch as that monster fed from her.</p>
<p>Ross and Brosh showed up shortly after, and reported they hadn’t seen Breda, King Bradley, or anyone. Not even Hawkeye’s body.</p>
<p>“There was only some blood on the ground,” Ross whispered to Hughes.</p>
<p>“Why would they take her body?” Brosh asked through a few sniffles. He was even weepier than Winry who had been helping bandage Ed in between crying over Hawkeye and Ed’s leg. Hughes had called Trisha, asking if he should go to the hospital, but they all agreed it was best if Ed rode it out with pain medication and fed on some blood. His accelerated healing would make the automail process easier on him. Winry was already promising to make him the best leg in all of Amestris.</p>
<p>The boy had been unconscious for her promises, but she would no doubt repeat them when he awoke.</p>
<p>Roy couldn’t find it in himself to feel much pity for the boy. It was there, somewhere near the pit of anguish where his heart used to be, but just like his worry for Alphonse and Breda, it was overshadowed.</p>
<p>He gritted his teeth and held back a groan as every bit of exposed skin throbbed. Without his eyesight, he could only feel the layers of skin flaking off onto Hughes’s kitchen floor. He hoped his vision would heal by nightfall, but he was probably going to need more blood to manage it. The only thing helping him keep his sanity was plotting how to retrieve Hawkeye’s body—and dare he hope find her fresh as a daisy with fangs—and destroy Selim Bradley once and for all.</p>
<p>Breda returned, smelling of sweat and metal. The whole room went silent in anticipation.</p>
<p>“I found where they took them,” he announced.</p>
<p>Roy’s charred lips stretched into a vengeful smile as his skin cracked and bled down his chin. </p>
<p>Finally, some good news.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re awake,” a gravelly voice said from somewhere to her right.</p>
<p>Riza’s eyelids were heavy as she opened them. She felt so weak. Exhausted, her eyes slid shut again.</p>
<p>She was cold, tired, and desperately thirsty. Somewhere nearby was a sweet, mouthwatering smell. An instinct roared to life inside her—telling her to take it for her own.</p>
<p>Cringing, she felt something foreign plunge from her gums. It conversely reminded her of losing a tooth as a child, such a strange, almost satisfying feeling. She had fangs.</p>
<p>She ran her tongue across them, feeling painfully parched. How had this happened?</p>
<p>With horror, she remembered climbing the fire escape of Hughes’s building, watching as Selim and King Bradley attacked the Elric brothers. Ed’s leg was sliced off by the former fuhrer as the boy had tried to protect his brother when Al’s alchemy had failed. Riza had vengefully shot King Bradley in the head.</p>
<p>What she hadn’t expected was Selim’s absolute fury. His grip on Alphonse had been dangerously strong, and she made to shoot as the small creature charged her.</p>
<p>She missed.</p>
<p>And the last thing she remembered was being tossed to the ground. She could surmise what happened after.</p>
<p>“Riza? Can you hear me?” It was that deep, gravelly voice again. It sounded familiar—but wrong. Sickly.</p>
<p>“Hohenheim?” she asked. Damn, her mouth was so dry she could scarcely speak.</p>
<p>Forcing her eyes open, she rolled her head toward his voice. She recognized the reinforced bars immediately. In fact, the whole cell block looked very familiar. It was where the militia had held vampires during the uprising, not that there had been many prisoners—mostly ones that surrendered freely. Riza had even personally escorted a few down here, so she knew it was a building near the rail yard. The whole cell block was in the basement.</p>
<p>Hohenheim was in the cell next to her, chained like a sacrifice to the reinforced bars. The chains were wrapped around him excessively, almost like a mummy. Only his eyes and nose were visible.</p>
<p>No wonder they had been unable to reach him. </p>
<p>“I think you are only here by the grace of your blood bond, my dear,” he said. “I’ve never seen a vampire awaken…so subdued.”</p>
<p>That was right. Mustang had pounced on her the second he transitioned, and Riza couldn’t even stand. She struggled to sit up, panting with exertion. </p>
<p>“Al?” she asked, spotting him in a cell across the corridor from her. His little body was huddled in a corner, his blonde head tucked into his knees, but his hands were looped around them, handcuffed to keep him from doing alchemy.</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry,” he said. There was a muffled sob before he spoke again. “We just—we were so tired of people getting hurt because of us.”</p>
<p>“It’s okay,” she found herself saying. Even though it wasn’t. If she had the energy, she’d crawl into a corner and sob, too. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you two safe.”</p>
<p>“It’s my fault,” Hohenheim said. “I underestimated Selim’s motivation to get at the boys and overestimated his tolerance of me. He’s had one of his insane doctors taking and studying my blood.”</p>
<p>Riza began to shiver uncontrollably. “I’m so thirsty,” she said, her words shrill and anxious. Her breath stuttered in her chest.</p>
<p>She was going into a blood rage. Rapidly.</p>
<p>And she was locked in a cage.</p>
<p>“Did you know…my mother was killed by a vampire?” she said, failing to stop her body from trembling. “The woman, the vampire, had been taken by blood rage. My father put her out of her misery. When I was older, I heard she had been a nurse at the town next to ours. She was kind, and would’ve hated herself for going on a killing spree like that.” The tears finally spilled over. “Please don’t let me hurt anyone.”</p>
<p>And then she noticed another sensation, dull and far away, but so, so familiar: Roy. It was just like when Kimblee had her compelled, except now she could almost sense he was near. He was angry and vengeful—and frightened.</p>
<p>Riza knew he was close, on the way to break them out, but she wasn’t sure she could hang onto her sanity long enough. She shifted, clutching her stomach that screamed in thirst. As she did so a pointy object poked her in the side. </p>
<p>A gun.</p>
<p>She looked to Alphonse. His handcuffs were standard for human alchemists. Vampire alchemists ended up like poor Hohenheim. Al’s were shoddily made of wood and metal. If she could hit it just right—</p>
<p>“Al? Can you do alchemy without a circle like your brother?”</p>
<p>“Sometimes. It’s hard,” he said. His golden eyes flashed as he looked up for the first time. He saw the gun, the same pistol that had been missed back at Barry’s shack when they frisked her. Vampires never seemed to suspect how many guns Riza could hide on her person.</p>
<p>“You trust me?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” he said.</p>
<p>But she was so thirsty, her body cried again.</p>
<p>“Al, hold up your hands above your head. Very steady, okay?” she asked, willing her hands to stop shaking.</p>
<p>The boy did so without question. Riza steadied her hand by resting it on the bars.</p>
<p>“What are you—” Hohenheim gasped.</p>
<p>The wood splintered down the middle as her bullet pierced through it. Not perfectly center, but good enough for Al to rip through it.</p>
<p>He could use his alchemy again.</p>
<p>“Riza! Hang in there!”</p>
<p>Her eyes fluttered shut as she slumped against the bars.</p>
<p>He clapped and there was a small creaking sound.</p>
<p>“Remember, it’s reinforced,” Hohenheim instructed. “The composition is different.”</p>
<p>“Right, right.” He clapped again and this time there was a loud clang. And then his wrist was shoved through the bars, right in front of her mouth.</p>
<p>“Come on, bite me,” Al said. He urgently pressed his wrist to her mouth, but while she was dying for the sweet smell of blood beneath his skin, she could not make her fangs cooperate.</p>
<p>“Bite yourself,” Hohenheim said. “Hurry! She was exsanguinated, so she’s going to be hit by blood rage very quickly.”</p>
<p>Al pulled back his wrist, just as a strange sound echoed from somewhere. Footsteps?</p>
<p>“Selim’s returning. Al, you need to make a run for it. Come back with help, okay, son?” Hohenheim pleaded, as if he already knew what his son would say.</p>
<p>“I’m not leaving. Riza, drink it, please!” he begged. He all but smothered her with his tiny wrist. Thought she wanted it, especially with the tantalizing taste of blood on her tongue, she could not make her parched muscles cooperate. The blood pooled uselessly in her mouth. </p>
<p>“Just go,” she told him, letting her head loll against the gate. “I didn’t really want to be a vampire anyway.” All she ever really wanted was to be by Roy’s side.</p>
<p>Hohenheim sighed, a bitter, frustrated noise. Then he said, “Selim’s here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maes had never seen Roy in such a state before. There was nothing but pure anger emanating from him as they stood in front of the rail yard, watching the building where Breda said Alphonse and Hawkeye had been taken. They were still waiting for Armstrong to arrive before making a move. Maes had suggested Roy stay behind at the apartment considering his vision was still slightly impaired, but he’d snarled like a cornered dog until they all agreed it was fine.</p>
<p>Maes had suspected something between Roy and his pretty assistant since before the uprising. She’d written a very sweet letter thanking him for his help with her father’s funeral. Roy must’ve read the letter ten times, and kept it as a bookmark for months afterward. Hawkeye had been a harder read, but she’d been destroyed the night Roy and the rest of their platoon had been compelled.</p>
<p>Now it was Roy who was destroyed, hanging on by next to nothing. Maes couldn’t blame him. Just imagining Gracia in the same situation kindled a murderous hatred Maes didn’t know he possessed.</p>
<p>Roy was going to be trigger happy, but he was also the best alchemist around, and they would need him. And if Hawkeye was in there somewhere, Roy was best equipped to find her.</p>
<p>“I want to burn that little shit piece by piece,” Roy growled under his breath.</p>
<p>“We’re going for efficiency more than torture,” Maes said.</p>
<p>Roy didn’t acknowledge his comment whatsoever. He suddenly tensed, ready to bolt. “She’s—I feel her,” he said, full of disbelief and hope.</p>
<p>“But it’s been hours,” Havoc said, equally surprised.</p>
<p>Maes silently agreed. He had only heard rumors of someone transitioning successfully after spending so long…dead.</p>
<p>“She needs me,” Roy said, returning to terrified. And then he was gone, the door exploding in an inferno as he ran into Selim’s lair. By himself.</p>
<p>Maes knew Roy could handle himself, but it wasn’t just him and Hawkeye to think of. Alphonse was in there, too.</p>
<p>He looked at Havoc and Falman. “All right, let’s go!”</p>
<p>The luckiest part of where Selim had chosen to roost was that every vampire in the militia had been there at least once. Following Roy’s scent—and the staler one of Hawkeye—Maes raced through the halls, barreling into the basement at a speed that shook the floorboards.</p>
<p>Havoc and Falman were right behind him, and they almost slammed into him when he came to a sudden halt. His nostrils were assaulted with a strong scent of blood belonging to several different individuals.</p>
<p>Listening, he heard sobs. “Why won’t he wake up? Why do they never wake up?”</p>
<p>Maes rounded the corner and saw a scene that would forever visit his nightmares.</p>
<p>A monstrous thing lay on its side beside the body of King Bradley, or who Maes assumed was him. Hawkeye’s bullet had rendered half of his face to pieces, and while many vampires had been created even after such injuries, it did not look like he would be one of them.</p>
<p>Maes forced himself to look at the creature again. His stomach churned. Hair graying and darkening, graying and darkening. An arm the size of a toddler’s, a leg wrinkled and spotted like an old man’s, never once holding the shape for longer than a second. The secrets to Selim’s youthful form finally had a horrific answer.</p>
<p>Behind him, Falman dry heaved.</p>
<p>Alphonse Elric, or so Maes had to assume by his golden hair and eyes, helped his father from his chains. Hohenheim stumbled and sat on the floor. Havoc stepped up to volunteer some blood. Behind them was a cell Roy must have positively pulverized because the metal of the gate was still glowing red. Inside, Roy held Hawkeye in his arms, shaking her excessively. Her eyes were shut, and she was pale and limp.</p>
<p>“Hawkeye? Riza? Can you hear me?” Roy pleaded. Her heartbeat was there, soft and infrequent. Maes couldn’t help thinking how odd it was. A new vampire was usually wildly thirsty. What had happened to her?</p>
<p>“Please, Hohenheim,” Selim asked, pleading just as mournfully as Roy was for Hawkeye. “Is there really no way to save him?”</p>
<p>Hohenheim bowed his head. “It must be a genuine blood bond. It cannot be forced with compulsion like you tried this time. Both individuals must want and accept the bond wholeheartedly.”</p>
<p>Selim whimpered. “I just wanted a father who loved me. I’m so tired of being alone.”</p>
<p>Maes crept around the creature still struggling with its form, trying not to feel pity for him after all the deaths he had caused. It occurred to him then that while full vampires could step into the sun and easily end it all, Selim could not. And right then, it certainly looked like Selim wanted to die.</p>
<p>Alphonse stood and walked confidently to the creature and placed a hand comfortingly on his back. Immediately, Selim was back to his normal body—trapped forever as a child.</p>
<p>Now it was Maes’s turn to ask Hohenheim a question.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roy was full blown terrified, but even through the darkness creeping over him, he heard Hughes ask, “If he’s bonded to her—why isn’t she waking up? That’s your theory, right?” Roy looked to Hohenheim, squeezing Hawkeye to his chest protectively, like it might keep her with him a little longer.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure. She couldn’t feed, even though she seemed to want to. It was like her body was too far gone.” Hohenheim rubbed his eyes with a hand covered in dried blood. His own blood. “When my wife died, there were some similarities to Riza. Trisha died while I was hours away in Central and she was in Resembool. I felt it—through the bond—and rushed home,” Roy remembered this part of the story, but the next part he had not mentioned before. “She said…my presence woke her. She was very weak, but she fed from me easily enough. Although I had to give her all the extra animal blood I had in the house to see her through the transition. Any time I’ve heard of such a lengthy transition period, it was due to a blood bond. It makes me believe without the bond, Trisha would not have become a vampire.”</p>
<p>“And it could be the same for Hawkeye,” Hughes said, very academic about it. Roy suspected he was processing the implications for his relationship with Gracia.</p>
<p>Roy replayed the story of Trisha’s death, seizing onto one pertinent detail.</p>
<p>While they had tried Al’s blood, it wasn’t Roy’s. He adjusted Hawkeye on his lap and dug his fangs deeply into his wrist. He let the blood pour into her mouth, holding her mouth open. He marveled at the pretty fangs that grazed his skin.</p>
<p>She made a noise of discomfort, which was the most promising sign of survival yet.</p>
<p>All he could feel from the bond was the same extreme thirst he’d been able to sense since he’d stood in the rail yard. Every inch of him was eager to nourish her.</p>
<p>Still, she would not feed.</p>
<p>Holding back a scream, in a fit of anger and panic, he kept his wrist in her mouth, but leaned to her neck, sticky with dried blood, and bit down. The bond between them flared to life stronger than before.</p>
<p>Drink, sweetheart, he begged.</p>
<p>Pitifully, delicately, she coughed, then swallowed a mouthful of blood. From there, her thirst grew ravenous. He unlatched from her neck to watch over her. Each pull of his blood into her body felt like he was the mightiest being in the world, just because he was sustenance for her.</p>
<p>Her eyes flickered open, a most beautiful sight.</p>
<p>“Hi,” he said stupidly.</p>
<p>She smiled, letting go of his wrist, and tugged him down by the collar for a chaste kiss.</p>
<p>“I’m still a little thirsty,” she said apologetically, and a hint of arousal hummed between them as she went for his neck this time. She was a bit clumsy, and it stung more than it would once she was an experienced vampire, but he still found himself enjoying it. Especially when she moaned and tugged him closer by pulling at his hair. His mind flashed ahead to a wisp of fantasy where they were naked the next time they did this. He hoped it was still a possibility. He knew her feelings on being a vampire, but so far, she seemed remarkably content.</p>
<p>Maybe, if Roy played his cards right, he could keep her that way for the rest of their lives, however long that would be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Riza wasn’t very sympathetic to Selim Bradley’s grief, not like Alphonse was.</p>
<p>“Would you…watch the sunrise with me?” Selim’s childlike voice asked him, mostly weary, a little afraid. It made Riza ponder exactly how old he was. He had asked to borrow Riza’s pistol, requesting only one bullet. He’d let them absorb the implications.</p>
<p>Al looked to his father who shrugged, leaving it up to his son. “I can do that. Where would you like to go?” Al replied.</p>
<p>“There’s a bridge with a pretty view,” Selim said quietly. Riza gave the pistol for Al to hold onto until…the right moment. </p>
<p>The pair left, Al walking tall and confident behind him. Riza thought it was too much for a young boy to take on, but hadn’t all of this been? And she knew Ross and Brosh were outside and would tail them to make sure Selim followed through with his promise.</p>
<p>The rest of the party followed slower after Mustang burned Bradley’s remains. Armstrong had shown up late after he’d escorted Trisha to Hughes’s apartment. Riza concluded by the redness of his eyes that he had gotten emotional over Edward’s leg. She couldn’t blame him. Her own livid reaction had ended with her killing King Bradley. Ed and Al had suffered, and seen others suffer because of them. They had sought to put an end to it, and Ed had wanted to keep his younger brother out of it, based on the way he’d protected Al during the attack.</p>
<p>She knew they would learn from the incident, not be broken by it, but she wished it hadn’t been necessary at all.</p>
<p>They stood out in the rail yard. “I need a drink,” Havoc said. “And a smoke.” He pulled out his cigarette and lit up immediately.</p>
<p>“I’ll take you back to your family,” Hughes told Hohenheim. “They’re set up at my apartment right now. You can stay there until Edward improves.”</p>
<p>The rest decided to get a drink at Chris’s bar, but Mustang turned them down. “I think I’m going to help Hawkeye get more acclimated to…the whole vampire thing.”</p>
<p>The others all agreed a little too enthusiastically, and Riza found herself blushing.</p>
<p>“Come on, sunrise is soon,” Mustang said. “My apartment is closer than yours. Or we could go to a hotel and hide for the day. I’m not picky.”</p>
<p>“Check in tomorrow night, okay?” Hughes asked with a barely contained smirk.</p>
<p>“Let’s go,” Mustang said, grabbing her hand. The strange echo of pleasure at the touch gave her butterflies.</p>
<p>While they sprinted toward Mustang’s apartment, Riza found herself taking in the world anew now that the danger had passed. The scent of the pavement, the wind flowing across her skin like water, the sound of her heart thumping in her chest. Mustang’s feelings were tangled in her own, but they were also an Other that she recognized as such. It didn’t feel like an intrusion, although she remained reticent of her own feelings being on display to him.</p>
<p>They arrived at Mustang’s place, a basement apartment she had found for him. No windows, but roomy. No drafts. It was lavish compared to her own—a benefit of being a renowned alchemist. She had been there in passing many times, never allowing herself to stay for more than a cup of coffee.</p>
<p>As she followed him inside, it occurred to her that she would have to spend the day here. Her second chance at life came at a cost. She would never walk freely in the sun again. She had sealed Mustang to the same fate two years ago. Now that she was on the other side of it, she was just as grateful to be a vampire as she was grateful Mustang had awakened as one. All this time she had wallowed in guilt, but she couldn’t change what had happened to either of them. They were vampires now, no matter how it came to pass. </p>
<p>To ward off the melancholy, she focused on the present. She was disgusting.</p>
<p>“Can I use your shower? And borrow something to change into?” she asked. She was covered in blood, dust, and a cluster of other things she could smell but not identify.</p>
<p>“Hmm, if I refuse to give you clothing, will you walk around naked?”</p>
<p>She wanted to be cross. Instead, she laughed at the very Roy Mustang comment. Riza wasn’t all that confident parading around in front of him naked, but…she wanted to be. Maybe now she could take some small steps toward that.</p>
<p>Summoning the same bravery she used on the battlefield, she reached out to wipe some dried blood off his jaw, then trailed a finger to the splash on his neck where she had bitten him earlier. Her hunger returned with a vengeance. He swallowed, his own thirst growing alongside hers.</p>
<p>“You look like you could use a shower, too. Why don’t we share it?” she asked.</p>
<p>His dark eyes were positively predatory as he led her to the bathroom. He removed his shirt, tossing it on the floor of the hallway. Riza kicked off her shoes, almost tripping as she became distracted by the movement of the defined muscles in his back.</p>
<p>The bathroom itself was cozy, and when he shut the door behind them, he was inches from her. His hands fell to her waist, untucking her shirt, the pulse at his throat caught her eye again. Her fangs descended.</p>
<p>“Thirsty?” he asked. “Take off your shirt and I’ll let you feed from me again.” His voice was deeper, and a thrill of desire ran through her.</p>
<p>Stripping off her shirt and bra, she eagerly fell against him, backing him into the door as she targeted his artery, using more precision and care than she had earlier as she burrowed into him. Her body came alive as she sipped that strong ambrosia again. Her naked breasts against his chest was unexpectedly arousing. She pressed closer, wanting more. More blood. More of his touch.</p>
<p>He answered her silent request with his hands, running up her sides, sliding in between them to grasp her breasts. She moaned blissfully, rolling her hips closer to him, bumping into his hard erection.</p>
<p>Unable to help herself, she drank a little more before finally releasing him. Her fangs did not retract like she expected, and she studied his expression, patient and calm, and matched it to those foreign feelings that lingered even now. Despite his expression, he was excited—aroused. He was only holding back for her sake.</p>
<p>“Did I take too much?” she asked, flushing.</p>
<p>Thirst echoed through her. Roy’s thirst.</p>
<p>“Can I—?” he asked hoarsely.</p>
<p>She could feel his desperation, knew how badly he wanted to feed from her, and she wanted him to. So much. She nodded, and he cupped the back of her neck, pulling her into his embrace as his fangs sank into her skin.</p>
<p>She was unprepared for what it would be like, the complete awareness of her blood melding with his body. It was invasive, but good—because she wanted Roy to have it.</p>
<p>He released her sooner than she anticipated, and she repressed her disappointment.</p>
<p>“I can’t get enough, even when my thirst is sated,” he said, inhaling against her neck before leaning back. His hand brushed her cheek, and she was overcome with his adoration and relief.</p>
<p>“I’m so glad you’re still here,” he said, reluctantly removing his hand. But then his eyes went to hers. “You feel it too now, don’t you?”</p>
<p>“Yes.” </p>
<p>“You…like this?” he asked, hesitant as his hand returned to her cheek. She sighed, leaning into the touch.</p>
<p>“I do,” she said, though she supposed he felt what she felt—the contentment between them. How strange that it didn’t feel strange at all.</p>
<p>She traced her hand down his cheek to his neck, her thirst still aching for more. Wordlessly, he exposed his neck to her again, and she squirmed at the eager pleasure coming through the bond.</p>
<p>“Am I always going to be so thirsty?”</p>
<p>“Not usually. I think it’s all the blood sharing. Maybe it will settle soon?” He stopped, groaning as she bit him again, aiming to satiate herself with less this time.</p>
<p>She felt her arousal growing, too, amplified by Roy’s own need. His hands wandered over her body, always slow and careful before exploring a new patch of skin. She could do this all day, but they had come in here for a reason.</p>
<p>With a gasp, she pulled back. “How about that shower now?” she asked.</p>
<p>They both wore only their pants, and she covered her chest out of habit as he turned on the shower to get it warmed up.</p>
<p>“Hmm, you’re blocking the view,” he teased, nodding at her arms. She blushed as his hands went to the button at his waistband. She instantly felt very much like the virgin she was. But she was dying to see him.</p>
<p>And she knew he wanted to see her.</p>
<p>It was only fair.</p>
<p>He gulped quietly when she lowered her arms and began shimmying out of her clothes, her eyes lingering on Roy as he did the same. With anticipation, she watched as his cock bobbed free, thick and hard, so different than she expected it would look. The only ones she had seen before were flaccid. Her curiosity was piqued. She wanted to touch it. Then a hundred questions rose as she wondered how to do it, how to be good at it.</p>
<p>The heat of his own embarrassment came through and she realized she was staring.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” she said. “I’ve never really…seen one before.” Belatedly, she realized she was also standing there naked. Maybe she was less modest than she’d always believed. She liked having him look at her.</p>
<p>“It’s all right,” he said. “I’m just only now realizing the pressure of being…your first. If you want. Whenever you want. Obviously, I want to if you want to—”</p>
<p>She was relieved she wasn’t the only one out of her element. “Thank you,” she said, slipping past him into the shower. “For now, let’s just clean ourselves up and see what happens.”</p>
<p>Water had never felt quite so relaxing before, especially when Roy crammed in beside her and offered to wash her hair. He was adorably terrible at it, but it was a nice excuse to learn how enticing wet skin against wet skin was.</p>
<p>Wrapping her arms around his neck, she brought him down, kissing him as he sloppily lathered her hair. He tasted sweet, almost as addictive as his blood. She explored his mouth with her tongue, wanting to memorize the taste, what he liked and responded to.  She thought back to her childhood, her silly crush she’d had on him. Then as they’d served in the militia together it had grown into love, steadily burning all this time. She never thought someone like him—with all his lovers—would want someone so ordinary.</p>
<p>Then a discomfiting thought occurred to her. She ended their kiss abruptly.</p>
<p>“What’s the matter?” he prompted, shuffling back to give her space. Desire pooled in her belly as she saw how hard he remained.</p>
<p>“I can infer a lot from this…blood bond we’ve accidentally made, but I just wanted to make sure.”</p>
<p>“Accidentally, huh?” Roy said, a wry grin on his face. “Maybe accidentally on purpose. I’ve known what I wanted from you for a long time…I just didn’t think I should ask for it. Didn’t think you wanted it.”</p>
<p>“Me?” she asked in surprise.</p>
<p>“You were the one who didn’t want me feeding from you again after that first time.”</p>
<p>“Only because it was so—intense,” she said. “There was a reason back then that Hohenheim mistook us for lovers.” She tilted her head back, consciously arched her neck as she rinsed the soap from her hair.</p>
<p>“Maybe the blood bond was me finally giving into instinct—not thinking with my brain,” he admitted. “We have a long history. I didn’t want to screw things up between us with my feelings for you. So that first time, I told myself it was only the heat of the moment.”</p>
<p>“Me too. And…I was sure, underneath it all, you did resent me. Despite what you said.”</p>
<p>“I never resented you,” he said, invading her space again. This time when they embraced, the hum of sexual energy dwindled to a simple comforting warmth. She could feel the truth in his words.</p>
<p>“I think I’m beginning to understand that better now.” She nestled her head into his shoulder, letting the water run over both of them.</p>
<p>His hands traced around the edges of where she knew her tattoo was. “I promised your father I would protect you. If he were alive—”</p>
<p>“He’d toss us both out into the sun to burn,” she interrupted. She knew her father well. “He probably just wanted you to protect his legacy, and for that, aside from us both becoming vampires, I think we’ve done all right. You’ve used your alchemy for the good of humanity.” Except that once, when Selim had controlled the flames through compulsion.</p>
<p>“I could do more,” he said with a sigh.</p>
<p>“This past week we’ve made more progress than in the entire last year.” All it had taken was the Elric brothers acting as unlucky bait.</p>
<p>“But I almost lost you.”</p>
<p>“I knew when I agreed to follow you that this was a possibility.”</p>
<p>“I know. You can take care of yourself, but I was always there with you. And I can’t help thinking what would have happened if we hadn’t decided to share blood—” he choked off his words, hugging her tight, as if he was afraid she’d disappear.</p>
<p>Riza knew she was fortunate. She would have been dead without the bond.</p>
<p>“I suddenly couldn’t feel you anymore,” he mumbled into her shoulder. “You were just—gone.”</p>
<p>“I’m right here,” she said.</p>
<p>His words brought her back to the night she’d shot him. He’d jumped her like a lion, ravenously drank her blood, and she had only been grateful he was still alive. Would’ve given him every last drop of her blood if he wanted. Even now, all it took was to remember the vision of him through her scope, falling to the ground, and she was awash with relief again that he was still here.</p>
<p>The wound left behind felt like it would never heal completely. For him, the wound was painfully fresh. She leaned back and cradled his face in her hands.</p>
<p>“I’m right here,” she repeated. He kissed her softly, the water from the shower getting in the way until he went back to just holding her.</p>
<p>It was astonishing how that simple intimacy could act as a balm for the hurt and grief. </p>
<p>They stayed like that for a long time, quiet except for the sound of the water before Roy finally spoke.</p>
<p>“The hot water won’t last forever,” he said regretfully.</p>
<p>They buckled down to finish showering without distraction, even though a few wayward touches were snuck in. There was something playful to it, which was a much needed reprieve after all the heaviness since they began helping Hohenheim and his family.</p>
<p>They stepped out of the shower, and she reached her arms up to towel dry his hair after twisting her own towel around her own, otherwise naked. She stood brave and bare in front of him. His eyes flickered up and down from her face to her curves, which boosted her confidence. Likewise, she drank in the planes of his chest and the way his cock jutted out shamelessly. It was…intimidating, thinking of the logistics of how it would all fit together.</p>
<p>She knew it would work, knew it would be good, especially with Roy who she had been in love with since before he was a vampire. He would make sure it was good for her, too, but should she talk in the middle? Where did she put her hands? And while Rebecca had talked her through the gist of it one drunken night, there were specifics like positioning that she would have to figure out as they went.</p>
<p>“You’re getting nervous,” he said quietly. “I told you, we don’t have to do anything right now.”<br/>“I’m not sure I like you knowing all my feelings,” she said. “Just because I’m nervous doesn’t mean I don’t want to.” And she could feel the powerful waves of lust pouring from him. He certainly wanted to, too.</p>
<p>Roy nodded. “You can block me. It just takes a little practice, according to Hohenheim. Or we stop drinking each other’s blood for a while. Bonds don’t have to be permanent.”</p>
<p>The thought of giving up his blood left a sour feeling behind. There was a reason they had fallen so easily into the blood bond. He was delicious.</p>
<p>And then her fangs throbbed and descended again.</p>
<p>“Ugh, all I have to do is think of your blood and these things come out,” she said, turning to steal his comb for her hair.</p>
<p>He sidled up behind her and smiled in the mirror, his fangs on display. “Me too. It’s kind of like when your mouth waters thinking about food. If you think of something else, they retract.”</p>
<p>She sat down the comb and turned around.</p>
<p>“What if I just want to bite you again?”</p>
<p>His eyes darkened. “Then do it.”</p>
<p>Her eyes dropped down, unsure how to get closer without bumping into his erection.</p>
<p>He answered the question by pressing her against the sink, his cock trapped between them, hot and silky against her hip. She gasped and forgot all about her thirst for blood. Her mouth fused to his lips instead, kissing him with abandon. She wanted his touch everywhere as much as she wanted to explore every piece of him in return. He seemed to be especially attached to her ass, one hand or the other periodically squeezing it and pulling her closer. If asked, Riza wasn’t sure she could choose between his muscular back or his abs.</p>
<p>He inhaled shakily as her hips began to thrust gently, wanting more pressure on her center where she was growing wetter and wetter. Soon he was grinding back, searching for the same relief.</p>
<p>He reared back, his hands clutching her hips to him.</p>
<p>“I have an idea.”</p>
<p>He guided her to turn until she faced the mirror. Her cheeks were pink from the heat, lips raw from kissing, her breasts she could admit looked good, but what really made her squirm was the way he looked her over hungrily. Their bodies lined up perfectly as he guided her, and she felt the hard, hot tip of him slide against her folds.</p>
<p>She tensed, uncertain, but he quickly corrected her.</p>
<p>“Just touching,” he said. “I won’t go inside yet.”</p>
<p>Yet. It made her clench and push back against him. His cock dragged across her wetness and she whimpered. Roy began to thrust, his erection firm and slick against her clit.</p>
<p>Oh. She was beginning to make sense of some of the logistics now. “Oh god,” she groaned, arching into his touch as he palmed her breasts.</p>
<p>“You look so beautiful like this,” he whispered in her ear, breath ragged.  “Feels so good.”</p>
<p>With each movement of his hips, it stoked her desire, wanting more. Her mind checked out, her body was in charge, seeking the carnal pleasure he could give her. She rose up on her toes, encouraging him to slip inside her. He grunted and held her hips tightly in place.</p>
<p>His lust through the bond was overwhelming, straining him to the last ounce of his control. Her own rose to match it and the sink cracked where her fingers dug into it. She had forgotten her new strength.</p>
<p>“Not—not in here,” he said through clenched teeth.</p>
<p>Suddenly he hoisted her over his shoulder, much like that time in Resembool, except one of his hands supporting her was teasingly close to her soaking entrance.</p>
<p>He spread her out across his bed like a feast before he kneeled between her legs, exposing her center to the cool air.</p>
<p>“Roy,” she sighed. He answered her call, crawling on top of her and kissing her again, but he kept himself away from the place she wanted him most. She lifted her hips off the bed, searching for something to fill the emptiness inside her.</p>
<p>“Are you sure?” He moaned helplessly as his cock aligned with her again, slick and deliciously messy. “You still feel nervous.”</p>
<p>“I just…I want to be good at it. I don’t know what I’m doing.”</p>
<p>A strained chuckle escaped him. “I want to be good at it, too. I want you to love it so you’ll let me do it again and again.” Her hips wriggled against him, urging him on, and he adjusted his weight above her.</p>
<p>“I promise to give you a fair shot at trying again if this doesn’t work out this time, if you promise the same for me,” she said, trying to tease but her nerves were too frayed. He surged forward, one hand on his cock to guide it, invasive but so welcome.</p>
<p>“No need,” he gasped. “I’m already having the best time of my life.”</p>
<p>Her opening was wet and ready, so she was surprised at how much she still had to stretch around him, and then there seemed to be a point where he was far enough in that he swiftly slipped down to the hilt with a pinch of discomfort. She hissed at the pain that conflicted with the pleasure shooting through his end of the bond.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” he said, kissing her temple, trailing more kisses down to her collar bone.</p>
<p>“It’s—ah—” he pulled back and thrust in again. It was sore, but better.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” he repeated. “Trying—not—to move.”</p>
<p>She managed to resist rolling her eyes. “Don’t be such a martyr,” she said. Then she got an idea, and the next second, she sank her fangs into the delectable vein at his neck and he growled. With a rush of lust, she felt his restraint crumble, and suddenly he was reaching that same addictive rhythm from the bathroom. The pain was lessening and the heat was intensifying.</p>
<p>“Damn, fuck, you feel so—” Roy was falling apart, blissed out like she had never seen him, all because of her. She was proud of it, even if her role was very passive so far. His thrusts grew stronger, inching her up the bed until she had to throw her hands above her to keep from slamming into the headboard. She licked his neck, forced to pull back before she gouged him.</p>
<p>It was then, basking in the pleasure of touch, hands finding every piece of his skin she could, that their superhuman traits began to show themselves. Touch was no longer enough, she needed to bite, nipping at his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Please—do that again,” he ground out, slamming into her so hard the headboard cracked against the wall. His hand snuck between them, fingering circles against her clit, and any thoughts of the headboard dissipated.</p>
<p>“Roy—yes, like that. Just like that,” as he found the right pressure.  She clenched down around his cock, feeling so full and sensitive to every touch, and the little bursts of heaven on her tongue as she nipped him only brought her closer to completion.<br/>He was close, too, wound so tight. Biting the skin between her neck and shoulder, his body shuddered, and his hips went still while he finished as deeply inside her as he could. The bond burned brightly with him as he came, and she clung to him as she moaned and finished just after.</p>
<p>She relaxed into the pillows, idly running her fingers through his hair as he entered a satisfied, borderline coma, his hand still resting between her legs. It reminded her of when he drank too much and fell asleep still holding his glass.</p>
<p>“What are you finding so funny?” he asked tiredly into her ear.</p>
<p>“Nothing in particular. You’re just adorable.”</p>
<p>A twinge of embarrassment came through the bond. “Hawkeye, a man never wants to hear that after sex.”</p>
<p>“And a woman wants to be called by her surname after sex?”</p>
<p>“Point taken. Riza,” he said. He sighed, rolling over and taking her into his arms with ease. “It will take getting used to.”</p>
<p>She snuggled into his side, cheeks burning when she felt a small gush of liquid trickle between her thighs. “Now I’m the one embarrassed,” she said, turning to hide her face against his chest.</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>“Because…I’m fairly sure I’m going to make a mess of your bed when I stand up.”</p>
<p>Rather than discomfort or annoyance she expected, he was positively pleased—and turned on again.</p>
<p>“Riza, darling, the idea of you making a mess in my bed is nothing to be embarrassed about.” She fought a grin at him using both her name and a pet name. Would her younger self have ever believed Roy Mustang would treat her so sweetly? “Besides, it’s more like I made a mess of you.”</p>
<p>Now that did have an appeal.</p>
<p>“You like that,” he said, and when she peeked at him, he was grinning devilishly. “I love this bond. No more of you hiding everything from me.”</p>
<p>“I’m going to have to go ask Trisha how to block you,” she huffed.</p>
<p>He was quiet, the bond buzzing in a whirl of emotions too broad for her to decipher. Did he not want her to…?</p>
<p>“So you are…okay with keeping it like this between us?” Her confident Roy so uncertain had her sitting up on her elbow to look him in the eye.</p>
<p>“Are you?”</p>
<p>“Definitely. I’ve only been in love with you for years,” he blurted. Strong, hot mortification.</p>
<p>“You? Really?” she asked, even as it began to make sense. “I thought it was just me. I thought you saw me as the little girl who had a crush on her father’s student.”</p>
<p>“Uh, no, I felt like the pervert who wanted his dead teacher’s daughter.”</p>
<p>They were both silent, stewing over their own stupidity. “But you’re so confident,” she said at last. “You talk to women so easily.”</p>
<p>“That’s different. It was casual, and we both knew it. With you…it was never going to be casual.”</p>
<p>“Even if I had remained human?”</p>
<p>“As soon as Hohenheim told me about the possibility of aging alongside you—and yes, he specifically mentioned you—I knew that’s what I would want. If you let me.”</p>
<p>He said it with such perfect sincerity. There was no way to doubt it with the bond. No way to misunderstand.</p>
<p>“And what about now? I’m a vampire. We could live a very long time.” She knew what she wanted, but what about him? She needed to be sure.</p>
<p>“Immortality isn’t something I’m attached to,” he said, reading her like a book. “We can decide how to live, and hopefully we can decide when to die.” She liked that—we can. Both of them as a unit.</p>
<p>“I love you. Whatever we do, I want to do it by your side.” She kissed him.</p>
<p>He grinned into the kiss. “Isn’t that what we’ve always done?”</p>
<p>It was.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's the end! Thanks to everyone who has followed from the beginning!</p>
<p>I am trying to get the epilogue up in a couple of weeks, but this is complete on its own. The epilogue is more of a bonus that ties up a few loose ends about the Elric brothers. They had a pretty rough time of it in this chapter...</p>
<p>Thanks again! Let me know what you thought!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is shorter than I thought, but I hopefully tied up some of the loose ends that were bothering me from the last chapter. This is all Alphonse's POV.</p>
<p>Chapter warnings: pregnancy, discussion of Selim's suicide. Just to be safe!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Six Years Later</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How long will you be gone?”</p>
<p>“Maybe an hour.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure you’ll be safe?”</p>
<p>“Yes. It’s not even remotely dangerous.”</p>
<p>“Maybe you should take one of the boys with you.”</p>
<p>Alphonse shared a look with his brother. Ed was about to lose it. His whole body trembled, brimming with amusement as his face turned pink.</p>
<p>“Or maybe Ed and I will just go to the market for you,” Al volunteered, watching Roy go slack with relief. His wife wrinkled her nose.</p>
<p>“I’m being clingy again.” Riza’s cheeks were rosy, belly unmistakably pregnant—the reason for Al and Ed’s visit to Central. Their mother had sent them to <em>help.</em> Whatever that meant. “I’m sorry. It’s the hormones.”</p>
<p>Roy kissed his wife on the top of her head. “Trisha warned us this would happen. It’s fine.”</p>
<p>They were adorable. Ed made a gagging noise, but Al knew he had used alchemy to make a little stuffed bear for the baby already. Somewhere along the way, Roy and Riza had become like family, so this baby was like a new cousin. Considering Al and Ed didn’t have any cousins, they were out of their element.</p>
<p>Thank god Winry had tagged along.</p>
<p>“I’ll go with them to make sure they don’t mess it up,” Winry said, taking the shopping list from Roy.</p>
<p>Roy sat back down on the couch beside his wife, putting her feet in his lap. He wasn’t going anywhere until the baby was born, based on the few days Al had been staying with them. Riza had one major craving, and it was her husband’s blood. At this point, Al thought they should focus all their efforts on keeping the man hydrated.</p>
<p>After Roy and Riza had married, they had moved to the outskirts of Central, which Al appreciated whenever they visited. Not only was it closer to Resembool, but it was far away from where the events of his greatest mistake took place. Even now, as they walked down the road to the markets the gentlest clink could be heard as Ed walked with his automail leg. Worse than that was the memory of sitting on a bridge with an ancient creature in the form of a young boy, waiting for the sunlight to weaken him before he shot himself and sunk down into the river.</p>
<p>Sometimes Al thought he should have stopped him, tried harder to talk him out of it, but…he really didn’t think vampires were meant to live so long. His father assured him he’d done the right thing. A vampire had the right to choose their own time after living so long.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe they’re having a little baby soon,” Winry said, her voice tinged with immeasurable excitement. She had begged to come, citing that she had never seen a vampire baby.</p>
<p>A vampire baby, just like Al and Ed had once been. A baby that wouldn’t exist if Riza hadn’t become a vampire. Al tried to remind himself of this whenever his guilt threatened to consume his thoughts. Because stronger than his guilt over his brother’s leg or Selim Bradley, was his guilt over Riza’s death.</p>
<p>If helping Riza could in any way atone for it, Al was prepared to carry her all the way to Xing on his back if he had to. He knew Ed felt the same way, even if he was quieter about it.</p>
<p>“Hey, Winry, could you help pick out a gift for Riza? Not just the baby?” Al asked. The baby was already spoiled rotten, but watching Riza putter around the house worrying about the nursery, her husband, what they should eat for dinner…</p>
<p>Yes, she deserved a present.</p>
<p>“Oh, good idea!” Winry said. “Did you have anything in mind?”</p>
<p>“Some nice slippers? She seems to have trouble…bending over to get her shoes on,” Al said.</p>
<p>“And she likes those orange chocolates,” Ed said, blushing when Winry gave him an impressed look.</p>
<p>“How about some flowers?” Al added.</p>
<p>“Flowers are always a good idea,” Winry agreed. “I know I love to get flowers.”</p>
<p>Al watched to see if his idiot brother got the hint. Based on Ed’s shifty expression, he did. Things had been changing between Ed and Winry ever since he lost his leg, but as Ed began taking assignments from Roy, the two had begun writing to each other with a fervor. If they were secretly dating, Al wouldn’t be surprised, though he wondered why they would bother to hide it. Everyone already assumed they were together.</p>
<p>Al could only grin when, in the middle of searching for orange chocolates, Winry suddenly had a small bouquet in her arms and Ed wore a smug blush and had a second bouquet under his arm.</p>
<p>Chocolates found and wrapped, shopping list complete, they returned to the Mustang home. As they grew closer, Al’s sensitive hearing picked up the light conversation between Riza and Roy.</p>
<p>“You can have more if you want,” Roy said. “I don’t mind. You know this.”</p>
<p>“I feel like a glutton,” she returned, but then she went oddly quiet and Al shared an amused look with Ed. It was wild how much a pregnant vampire could drink. Winry remained blissfully ignorant to the rather intimate sounds of Riza feeding from her husband.</p>
<p>There was little privacy between vampires.</p>
<p>“Oh!” Riza said, mildly surprised.</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“The baby woke up. Here, feel, they are kicking like crazy.”</p>
<p>Roy still had his hand on Riza’s belly when Al and the others joined them in the front room of the house after putting the shopping away. Roy’s face was lit with joy and Riza’s matched with perfect delight, contrasting with the faint scent of his freshly spilled blood still in the air.</p>
<p>“Is the baby kicking?” Winry asked, squishing in on Riza’s other side with perfect ease. “Can I feel?”</p>
<p>“Go ahead. Baby is unusually awake.”</p>
<p>“Ah! So strong!” Winry said, and even Al could see the way Riza’s belly wobbled under the strength of it. He wondered what it felt like. He’d never felt a baby kick before.</p>
<p>“You want to join in, boys?” Riza asked, and Roy reluctantly shifted away from her side to make room. “I’m due any day, so take your chance while you can.”</p>
<p>It was almost uncomfortably intimate, putting his hand to her stomach, but Al was struck by the miracle of it the moment the little foot pressed back against his palm. There really was a tiny baby in there.</p>
<p>“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Ed asked, looking warily between Riza and Al. Still uncertain.</p>
<p>“Well, we are planning to name you all honorary aunt and uncles,” Riza said. She smiled kindly at Al, as if she knew how breakable he felt in that moment. “Uncle Al will probably be the favorite.”</p>
<p>It was a balm to his soul, a taste of that forgiveness he was searching for. And he knew he would unhesitatingly die for this fragile new life kicking at his hand.</p>
<p>The urge to cry was overwhelming as his mind went from this moment to thinking of his parents doing the same for him and Ed as babies, all the way back to Selim Bradley’s sad creation. But for all the bad Selim brought, somehow, through changing Al’s father and Roy, taking Riza’s life…this little baby came to exist in this moment.</p>
<p>For a long time Al had thought if he could do over that day again, he would just wait it out for the adults to handle Selim, hope they put an end to it, spare Riza’s life. Now he was beginning to think Riza didn’t see it that way. She had made a little family out of her misfortunes, just as his parents had.</p>
<p>He smiled through his tears as the little foot kicked him again. After all the pain, something beautiful had come from it all. A bright light in the darkness.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading if you made it this far! I love you, faithful readers!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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